Being Neighborly
by HeartshapedBubbles
Summary: When Rima moves across town to a new neighborhood, she never expected that her childhood enemy would live RIGHT NEXT DOOR! Ok, maybe it's not right next door and maybe he's not so much of an enemy after all. Maybe he's... something else. Hmmmm...
1. Neighbors

"-and then you fell in the pond with the ducks and it was SO funny, everyone was like AHAHAHA and pointing and you were screaming and crying because you had ruined your new hair bow and you hadn't touched the ducks and then your aunt Sachi decided to head back to the shore and you were pouting and there was poo in your hair and you looked SOOOOOOOOO cute and-"

I hate moving.

I've always disliked going through the process of elimination with my clothes, shoes, and such. I hate the scratchy feeling of cardboard. I hate the smell of dust and mothballs. But more than anything, I hate knowing that my reality is shifting. That everything is changing and I can't do anything to stop it.

"-then we got back to the shore and you wanted to go back in and touch the ducks and we all ran to you yelling "RIMA! RIMA! and then-"

Mama's voice ran through my thoughts, startling me out of my trance. I blinked, momentarily dazed. I had NO idea what she was talking about until I saw the picture in her hand. We were in the living room of our new house, and Mama had unpacked a box filled with photo albums. She was holding a picture of me, where I was probably five, dressed in a little sailor suit, completely soaked. I was making that face I make before I cry, where I scrunch up my nose and my cheeks turn red and my eyes fill with tears. It was an awful picture; my hair bow was plastered to my face. I wish Mama would throw it away, but she seems to really like it.

"-and then Sachi thought it would be funny to take a picture and so Pap-" Mama's voice suddenly died. I stiffened, and almost out of reflex, looked at her. She hands had suddenly clenched up around the picture, and her bangs were hiding her eyes. "And so P-papa got out the camera and took this picture." She ended in a dull, hollow sort of voice. I didn't need to see her eyes to know they were glistening with tears. I looked away, feeling slightly sick.

"Are you hungry?" Mama spoke again, in a high, fake cheery voice that trembled slightly. "I'm hungry! I want some lunch. Oh, look at the time! 1:02 and we haven't eaten since breakfast! That's AWFUL! I'm a horrible mother! Of course I'll feed you; I want you to grow, you know! I know you wouldn't like to be a midget forever darling, I'll go ahead and make you some soup. Or would you like stew? What's the difference between soup and stew anyway? It makes no sense, I'm so totally lost, and then they have those things that they call 'creams' that are actually soup but there really is no difference…" she tittered off, ignoring my death glares.

Let me state for the record that I am NOT short. I'm not small. I'm… compact. Fun sized. I DON'T CARE THAT I ONLY REACH AMU'S NOSE. I DON'T CARE THAT YAYA HAD A SUDDEN GROWTH SPURT AND NOW IS A WHOLE HEAD TALLER THAN ME. I'M TRAVEL SIZED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE! Be grateful. Dammit.

As soon as Mama was in the kitchen, I slunk up the stairs to my room. There were boxes everywhere. Of course. The bed was cleared, though, and I flopped on it face down, hoping to die.

I didn't. Duh. I did, however, hear a weird sort of noise and feel a vibration coming from somewhere on the bed. Lifting my head up, I saw my cell phone on the bed. The little red light that meant I had a message was blinking.

I sprang up and pounced on it, opening it clumsily. Eagerly I read:

_May 26__th__, 12:57 pm_

_From: Amu_

_Rima-chan! I hope you're done unpacking and everything in your new house, but don't forget you promised to come over to my house to study for the test! Yaya's already here. Hurry!_

_P.S. We're making cookies._

I stared at my phone. On one hand, this was a perfect excuse to get out of the house and leave this mess. On the other hand, I honestly was totally lost here. What test? What study session?

_To: Amu_

_What?_

I was expecting another text, but in less than 30 seconds my phone rang.

"! THE MATH TEST! THE ONE THAT IS 25% OF OUR TOTAL GRADE! THE ONE I'VE BEEN PLANNING THIS STUDY SESSION FOR! FOR WEEKS! REMEMBER?"

I was by now holding the phone about a foot away from my ear, hoping not to go deaf. "Huh?" I said, not to brightly. In the back, I could hear Yaya yelling about candy. Amu seemed to be close to tears of frustration as she tried to calmly tell Yaya to stop yelling, get off the roof and come inside. She spoke again, hyperventilating slightly.

"Just come over and we can discuss this. And if you don't want to study, then you can just INHALE SOME GODDAMN COOKIES AND BE ON YOUR WAY _GET OFF THE STUPID ROOF YAYA_! I'M SERIOUS! I DON'T HAVE ANY CANDY LEFT! Rima, seriously. I kicked my parents and Ami out of the house for this. Just come over. _Please!"_

I heard more voices over the phone. It sounded like Tadase was over there too. I'd bet twenty bucks Amu invited him over hoping to flirt with him. Looks like Yaya screwed up that plan. Hee hee.

"Fine," I said, "I'll go."

"Really?" Amu squealed. Ugh. I could almost feel the sparkles radiating over the phone. "Great! See you soon! YAYA I'M NOT KIDDING! IF YOU'RE NOT OFF THE ROOF IN FIVE MINUTES I'M CALLING THE COPS! FOR REAL!" Click.

I groaned and heaved myself off the bed. Opening a random suitcase, I pulled out a ruffly black skirt and a blue short sleeved top. I put on my gray boots and long black socks. Grabbing my backpack, cell phone and wallet, I ran down the stairs. Over my shoulder, I called out to my mother "I'm going to Amu's! I'll be back in a few hours!" Without waiting for a response, I exploded out the door.

It felt good to be outside. In my house, everything was chaotic, but out here, it was pretty nice. I had to admit, this new neighborhood wasn't too bad. It was pretty, actually. I smiled to myself. It felt great to walk by myself. A few years ago, my mom would have died rather than let me walk 6 blocks by myself. There would have been a huge fight between her and my dad about me, and then about each other, pointing out their flaws and weaknesses and going on at it for hours before finally remembering what the argument was about and deciding that NO, I couldn't walk by myself. But now, after the divorce was finalized, Mama decided that, being 16, I could walk "anywhere within a reasonable distance". So now I walked to and from school by myself. Mama had met Amu and "approved" of her, so I was allowed to go out with her. Papa wouldn't object. After he and Mama separated, which was shortly before my 6th grade graduation, he had met another woman; an accountant named Yasuko, married her and was trying to start a new family. He ended up moving to Hokkaido. I knew it hurt Mama. I only saw him about 4 times a year, when he'd come with a big present and take me out somewhere. More recently, he had stopped giving me teddy bears and toys and had started giving me money, but the last time he came, he gave me a silver heart locket with a romanji letter, "R" engraved on it. When he left, I opened the locket. It was empty.

Either way, I always wore it. It was small enough to wear with the uniform. The first time I had worn it, all the girls and Tadase had gushed over it, and Kusukusu had gone all "Rima-tan has a pretty heart! Rima-tan has a pretty heart!" And Fujisaki had faked surprised and was all "Rima has a heart? Who would have thought!" and then I kicked him and he tripped.

Ignoring my memory of Fujisaki, I thought of Kususkusu. Remembering Kusukusu hurt a little. It always hurt a little. Last year in the 9th grade, all our charas disappeared. It was sad and felt very strange, having to go about without them. I missed Kusukusu making me laugh.

I was in front of Amu's house when I noticed it. The eerie quiet. No hysterical Amu. No wailing Tadase. No screaming Yaya on the roof.

Oh. My. Gosh. Amu actually called the police on Yaya and they were probably in jail or something. But no, the house looked in order. Everything was cleaned up, like nothing had ever happened here. Huh. I cautiously opened the gate. Nothing seemed to be wrong here. Still apprehensive, I knocked on the door. I almost melted with relief when I heard Amu say "Coming!" and the door was opened. "Amu!" I squealed, and huggled her. "You made it Rima!" She laughed, hugging me back. "Come on in, we're having tea!" I trailed after her. My relief that everything was ok was dissolving, leaving me somewhat confused."How did you get Yaya down from the roof?" I asked. "Did you actually call the police to get her down?" "I was honestly close to it," Amu replied, opening the door to her room," and I would have done it if-" "I hadn't showed up," said a voice from behind me. "Aren't I a saint?"

I practically jumped out of my skin. Turning around, I was shocked to find HIM standing less than a foot away from me. Seriously, all I had to do was take a step and we'd be- too close for comfort. We already were. I felt cheeks going slightly pink, thinking about the closeness. _Closeness. _What a retarded word. Seriously. Who had made it up? Another word I hate is "togetherness". It sounds so cliché and annoying!

"Yup," Amu was saying," Nagi showed up and then we started trying to get her down and suddenly she calmed down and came off the roof and then like 5 seconds later Kairi showed up, so we all came inside and decided to have tea."

"Oh," I said stiffly. "How nice."

"Yes," said Fujisaki smugly. "I am. Here's your Earl Gray tea, Amu." And then he coolly slipped inside Amu's room.

As soon as he was gone, I dragged Amu to the kitchen of her house, where I rounded on her. "How could you not tell me?" I asked furiously.

"Tell you what?" Amu asked, confused. "I didn't know that Nagi was going to bring tea-"

"Don't say his name!" I wailed. "This is SO unfair, Amu! You didn't tell me anything!"

"I told you Rima, weeks ago when the test was announced, that we were going to have a group study session-"

"You know I forgot that! You told me to come over to DISCUSS the matter Amu! You didn't tell me that that… that… that LIAR was going to be here!"

Amu's eyes widened, her voice suddenly hard. "That was in the past, Rima" she hissed, "and you know full well that he's been nothing but honest with me ever since. I honestly don't know WHY you fight so much with him, he's really so nice-"

For some reason, my cheeks turned pink. "Nice? Nice? He's not nice. He's constantly mocking me and making fun of me! Last week, he laughed at me in science class and was all like "Oh, look, Mashiro, only 23 percent right! Tsk tsk, they should send you back to grade school. Plus you're short, you know, so you'll fit right in hahaha…" I groaned, remembering. "He is not nice. He's evil."

Amu sighed. "I'm sorry for not telling you Rima. I really am," she said in a weary sort of voice. "I should have reminded you. I just forget that you guys don't really get along, you know. It's not as obvious as in grade school."

"It's ok" I told her, in a similar weary tone. "You were busy with Yaya and stuff. Around what point did she sneak out anyway? While you and Tadase were blushing and heavily flirting?"

"Rima!" Amu said in an embarrassed sort of way. "It was nothing like that! He was explaining geometry to me, and Yaya found Ami's candy stash, so she snuck out while I was fli- learning the wonders of… 3 dimensional shapes," she finished lamely.

"I'm sure" I said in a you-are-a-sucky-liar-and-I-wont-even-pretend-to-believe-you sort of way. "Never mind. Now that that's cleared up, you promised me cookies. I want."

Amu laughed. "If there are any left, they're in my room. Come on." We clambered up the staircase to her room, chatting away.

As we entered the room, Tadase immediately brightened up. "Hinamori-san!" He said, eyes like a puppy's. "We were beginning to worry there had been some sort of catastrophe." He and Amu giggled as Amu went to sit next to him, leaving me at the door. Resisting the urge to gag, I looked away. Fujisaki then offered his oh-so-important opinion. "We thought Rima had murdered Amu and was hiding her body in the backyard."

"Hahaha, Fujisaki," I said in a deadpan voice. "How truly witty. Tell me, how is it you received a 98 on the Language project where we had to write an original mystery story? Because you just offered us some of the lamest, most unoriginal sh-"

"Shaving cream!" Yelled a panic-stricken Amu. "A..ahaha..haha..ha…." "Tee-hee-hee" Tadase chimed in, "How funny Amu!" "Really?" Amu said, flustered that he had called her by her name. "Oh.. hahahahaha" "Ahahahahaa" echoed Tadase back, both of them by now blushing furiously. Rolling my eyes, I took in the scenery.

Tadase and Amu were in their own world on one side of the small, four person table. Next to them was Kairi, his back to Amu's window. Behind Kairi, close by the window, was Yaya. Both of them were talking quietly, probably about a question Yaya had with her homework. Opposite Kairi was Fujisaki. Oh horrors. I'd have to sit next to him. There was no getting around this. Sighing, I dumped my backpack on the floor and sat down, opening my English notebook.

There was complete and utter silence from our end of the table for about ten seconds before Fujisaki spoke up.

"So…"

I didn't answer him. I felt bad about what I had said earlier. For some reason or other, Fujisaki seemed more- irritating than usual. It was a feeling I couldn't describe, it was so odd. I flipped through my notebook, pretending like I cared about the words written there, pretending not to feel the heavy aura floating between us.

Opening a page at random, something fell out of my notebook. Yaya noticed. She yelled "Rima-tan! What is THAT?" and so of course everybody turned around to look. "I don't know," I honestly replied, feeling everyone's eyes on me. "It looks like a letter" said Tadase. I reached for it, trying to get everyone to quit staring, but then a hand flashed out and grabbed it. Out of nowhere, Tsukiyomi Ikuto stood up in the middle of Amu's room, smirking. "Looks like the shrimp got a love letter."

There was a stunned silence for about a minute until Tadase screamed "YOUUUUUUUU!" Then all hell broke loose and the fun began.

Amu screamed, turned a bright red and- I kid you not- fainted. Yaya glomped onto the person closest to her; which turned out to be Kairi, and began to wail. So when Kairi tried to sprint to the bathroom to get a wet towel, he tripped over Yaya's dangling leg, fell face fist, and smashed his glasses. Tadase, meanwhile, was challenging Ikuto to a duel, who then began to run around the room making Tadase chase him. In all this, Fujisaki and I just sat there, watching Tadase and Ikuto run, Yaya wail and Kairi try desperately to fix his glasses. Amu lay there, twitching on the floor. Annoyed, I got off the floor and left the room. To my surprise, Fujisaki was right behind me. "Where are you going?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Awwwwww, come on Rima, don't be so mean to the guy who saved your love letter." He held up the white envelope.

I stared and then tried to retrieve my letter, but the jerk held it WAAAAAAY above my head. "No, no, no Rima! You see, someday I'm going to be a business tycoon, so I figure now is the best time to start extorting people. Before I give you this letter, I want you to answer my question."

"Wha- what on earth? That's MY letter, Fujisaki. MINE." I stood on tiptoe, trying to reach the letter. "Rima, you ARE aware that you come up to my chest? You are never going to reach this letter." He laughed.

I gritted my teeth angrily. "Fine," I said, pretending not to care, "keep the stupid letter. I get about 5 a week anyway, and they all say the same thing: 'Rima-sama, you are SOOOOOOO kewl! Omigosh we wub yewww!' from a random stranger. Why do I want that letter? Keep it."

He just stood there laughing! When he finally stopped, he looked at me with a grin on his face. "Come on Rima. Reverse psychology will never work on me. I know you want this letter. To get it, answer my question."

I glared, furious. Not having any more resources left, I filled my eyes with tears. "That's really mean, you know." I looked up at him, staring into his eyes. MISTAKE.

For some reason, I had never noticed that Nagi- Fujisaki had such long eyelashes. I hadn't noticed, either, how enormous his eyes were, how warm and inviting they looked, like honey, and I was certain I had never seen that expression in his eyes before, so gentle, and at the same time, almost scared-

I took a step forward.

Reality seemed to crash down on me, and I felt so stupid! My heart was pounding for some reason, all "doki doki" and I realized that my lips had been slightly parted. I suddenly felt incredibly retarded. Ugh. Quickly, I turned around and, on jelly legs, walked to the bathroom. "I-I'm going to get a towel for Amu."

"Good idea" said Fujisaki quickly. I'll go get a basin filled with water…" and he practically ran down the stairs.

In the bathroom I inspected my reflection in the mirror. To my horror, my cheeks and ears were pink. Shaking my head, I hunted for a towel. I thought back to our most recent behavior. For some reason, being around Fujisaki was unsettling now. It gave me a strange feeling in my stomach, like some sort of a bad omen or something. I had been feeling some sort of- I don't know, frustration?- with him recently. As a consequence, I guess, our bickering had grown, developing into full-blown arguments. I kept trying to push the feeling back and ignore it, but it wouldn't go away.

Sighing, I found a light blue one and raced back to the room to find a relatively less amount of chaos. Kairi had somehow summoned scotch tape and had fixed his glasses. He seemed to be consoling Yaya, who was wailing her apologies to him and promises to buy him lots of candy. Tadase and Ikuto had already left, but not before ripping apart two pillows, knocking over the books on Amu's bookshelf and smashing a bottle of perfume. Great, now the room reeked and was covered with feathers. Amu was stirring feebly. I ran to her side and lifted her head onto a nearby pillow. Fujisaki burst in with the basin full of water, and I soaked the towel and put it on her head. Amu stirred and then burst up, gasping and panting.

"What the-? Where are-? When da-? Ughnnnnn my head…"

"Amu! Amu! It's OK! They're gone!" I told her. "Tadase and Tsukiyomi left already."

Amu lifted her head up, surveyed the damage, and fell back on the pillow, groaning. "My room…" she mumbled. "Ah well," she said, "it could've been worse." She sighed and stood weakly. I tried to support her, but Fujisaki got there first and helped her to her bed. He put his hand on her forehead and said "It doesn't look like you have a fever, but you still should get some rest," and gave her a small smile.

While Amu recovered, the remaining four of us cleaned began to clean the room. Scrub as I might, I could NOT get the overpowering smell of jasmine and roses out of the carpet. After about 30 minutes of nonstop scrubbing, Amu got up and sat down by the table again. "Just leave it," she advised me. "Let's just TRY and study for a little bit, please?"

Feeling a mixture of guilt and sheepishness, we all sat down and studied. Sort of. Kairi, Fujisaki and Amu worked on different math problems while Yaya and I played tic tac toe and doodled in our notebooks. After a while, Kairi stood up and said, all formally, "Thank you for having me over Hinamori-san. It has been a pleasure," and started to put his stuff away. I looked at the clock, and to my surprise it was about 5:30. Wow. _That was fast_, I woke up (she had been half asleep by the fourth question) and was all like "No, no, no, it was all my pleasure, I'm sorry for the mess," and such and got up to escort him the door. Then Yaya was like "Wow, its late! Yaya had better go too!" so then Fujisaki and I decided to go too.

As we left, I was going to hang back because I wanted to talk to Amu, but then her parent's car pulled around the corner and I chickened out. So I gave her a quick hug and said bye and started walking home. I was really frustrated for some reason. This move had jumbled me up. I felt like I was busy all the time, like everyone was busy all the time and I felt like I hadn't talked to Amu in years._ I have some really important things to discuss with her and we haven't spent any time together in ages. _I thought._ It's all Tadase's fault, and that college kid Tsukiyomi Ikuto! Every time I want to talk to her they show up and screw up everything and next time they do this I'm going to make damn sure- _

I was suddenly aware of the footsteps behind me. They were close, and somewhat quiet, which is probably why I hadn't noticed at first. It suddenly hit me that I was short, alone, and 3 blocks from my house. I'd never make it home in time; I'm not athletic. _Oh. My. Gosh. I have a stalker. Someone is behind me and they want to kill me and kidnap me and take me really far away and I'll never see anyone ever again! What should I do? I only have my backpack with me and-_the footsteps got even closer, like the person was 3 feet away. That was it. I was going to die. But not without a fight, no. I, Rima Mashiro, was going to defend myself against any possible creeper, stalker or kidnapper behind me. I started breathing hard, steeling myself, waiting for the attack. I was nearing a streetlamp when the footsteps sped up. It was now or never. Grabbing my backpack in one hand, I tensed up, still walking. I was under the streetlamp when it happened. The footsteps were right behind me, and a hand suddenly touched my shoulder. "Ri-" "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" BAM.

The minute the hand touched my shoulder, I grabbed my backpack and heaved it at the mystery stalker/creeper/kidnapper. He crumpled to the ground and I was going to run away when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed it. A flash of purple hair. I turned around.

Lying there, on the floor, my backpack now in his hands, was none other than Fujisaki Nagihiko. "Wha-?" I asked, utterly nonplussed. "Where's the creeper?" I asked, almost hysterical. Fujisaki got to his feet slowly, rubbing his head where I had hit him with my backpack. "Creeper? Rima, it's me." "Well, I didn't know that!" I squeaked, still freaked out. "What are you doing here?"

"That's my line. What are _you _doing here Rima? You live on the other side of town."

"Not anymore," I informed him, "my Mom and I moved. Seriously, Fujisaki, what are you doing here? You had me hyperventilating back there! What was up with you following me?"

Fujisaki suddenly started laughing. He wouldn't stop! He leaned onto the lamppost and kept laughing, making me feel like a complete and total idiot. "Stop laughing at me!" I cried, but he wouldn't stop. I felt myself flush angrily. Walking over to him, I yanked his hair. He immediately stopped laughing. "O wow ow ow o wow! Stop it Rima!" Satisfied to have wiped the grin off his face, I let go. "What's so funny?" I asked. "There's nothing hilarious in being stalked when you're a girl and you're alone and sho-"

A grin spread over Fujisaki's face. "What was that, Rima? Are you actually admitting to being short?" I whacked him on the head. "Stop being so retarded! I was doing nothing of the sort! I was- why do I keep getting off subject? Tell me-" I yanked on his hair again, bringing his face down close to mine, "what are you doing here?"

"Ow!" he cried again, "Not the hair!" I let go, and he straightened up, chuckling quietly. "But if you must know, Rima-" "Don't say my name!" I interrupted. He ignored me and continued. "If you must know, this is my street."

Hello everyone, this is Alice speaking.

I sincerely hope you like the story! This is my first fanfiction ever, so it's kind of embarrasing! X3

When I started writing the story, I started looking for a beta. I quickly discovered that there are like a gazillion awesome people willing to work as a beta, but my thought was _How can I tell if anyone wants to_ _beta this? _And then I was like, I know! I'll publish a chapter and if people like this, then I'll keep writing and hopefully find a beta! :D So yeah, if you would like to be my beta reader, I would humbly accept your help.

I hope you like this story! Please review :3

~Alice


	2. Horror Stories

"_Ow!" he cried again, "Not the hair!" I let go, and he straightened up, chuckling quietly. "But if you must know, Rima-" "Don't say my name!" I interrupted. He ignored me and continued. "If you must know, this is my street."_

My head was spinning and my usual cache of witty replies was empty. "No it isn't," I answered stupidly.

"You're right," Fujisaki sighed, "technically it's not. This is all just very hard to explain to someone who failed the reading comprehension part of the language test."

"Shut it," I mumbled, feeling more retarded as the seconds passed. The full weight of what had just happened fell upon me. The embarrassing memory of staring into his eyes was still mocking me, and the whole 'stalking' thing just humiliated me more. "Just get on with your stupid story."

"Ok, this is more or less the story. Keeping it simple, the Fujisaki family basically owns this street. And all the way down for about 3 or 4 more blocks. See the lovely silhouette of a bunch of trees down there? Those trees surround my house."

"That's not so complicated," I said. Secretly, however, my mind reeled. Those trees, that house- they were right down the street. They were also the first things I had noticed when I moved here. How could I not? The place was HUGE.

"Anyway," he continued, "now that I've explained this to you, when did you move here? Where do you live? Why didn't you tell me?"

I snickered. "You know, I suddenly don't feel so sorry for hitting you back there. You sound like a real, creepy deranged stalker."

Fujisaki shifted slightly and smiled a small, dangerous smile. "Funny you should speak of the deranged. Do you want to know a bit of the interesting history of this neighborhood? "No," I said, but he ignored me. "This place is actually really old; it's been in the Fujisaki family for years. It used to be a farm. It was bigger too; before my great-great grandfather decided to sell part of it and build houses to make more money. Well, anyway, the farm used to employ farm hands from other cities or far away. So one day, a young man ran away from home and came to work on the farm because he didn't want to be forced into a marriage with his cousin. So his fiancée went and visited a witch and put a curse on him. He become mad and ravaged the country side for years, until one night, cloudy, windy night like this one," (I sneaked a terrified glance at the sky) "a young miko was walking alone when she heard something in a tree behind her. She stopped and decided to investigate. Behind the tree, she saw maniacal eyes. She didn't hesitate and began to run. But, unfortunately, she tripped over her _hamaka* _and fell on the ground. Before the lunatic could kill her, a young samurai appeared and challenged him. Just as the samurai appeared to be gaining the upper hand, the lunatic revealed a knife he had hidden all along. He mortally wounded the young samurai and advanced upon the miko, who was chanting a protection prayer. Just as he stabbed her though the heart" (I squealed) "the samurai got up and sliced off the maniac's head, and immediately died of his wounds. It is said that the three are angry, vengeful spirits that haunt the area to this day."

I stared at him, horrified. I opened my mouth to try and speak, but no noise came out. I closed my mouth and opened it again, but still no sound came out. Fujisaki chuckled. "So, Rima, let's move along, shall we?" He began walking, leaving me alone in the streetlamp.

"Wa-wa-wa-wa-wait! Fujisaki! Fujisaki!" I cried, finding my voice. He kept on walking, going further out into the darkness. "Fu-Fujisaki! NAGIHIKO!" I practically screamed. He stopped and turned around, mouth open in surprise. I flushed.

"What did you-" he began, but I wasted no time and immediately ran to catch up with him, tripping over my own feet. He caught me by the waist and set me back straight. The wind rustled in the trees. _Trees. _The maniac had been hidden in a tree. I let out a small squeak and my teeth began to chatter.

"Rima, are you ok?" asked Fujisaki, concerned, as we began walking away from the blessed light.

'Are you kidding me? You tell me a horror story about this neighborhood and expect me to be ok? What kind of a messed up person are you?' is what I wanted to say, but my teeth were still chattering and I ended up saying something that sounded like a cross between a chipmunk and a platypus.

"Rima? Are you cold?" he asked. In the distance, a wolf howled. I began to tremble. I looked up.

I have no idea what I looked like, but my guess was that I looked an awful lot like the picture Mama had showed me earlier that day, minus the wetness, the poo in my hair and the bow plastered to my face. Involuntarily, I whimpered.

I immediately hated myself for displaying this awful weakness in front of my former rival, but I was REALLY scared. I swear I had almost peed my pants back there! Horror has never really been my thing, ever since I was 4 and my cousin made me watch "Chuckie" with her. I was scarred for life.

I lowered my head. My face was burning. How humiliating, to let ANYONE see me like this! I felt miserable. It was dark and I was scared, ashamed, and (now that I thought of it) pretty cold. Damn. I should have brought a sweater.

All these things were running through my head when I suddenly felt a strange warmth falling over me. Touching my shoulder, I felt fleece. Great. I didn't even have to look up to know what had happened. Fujisaki had given me his sweater. "Thanks." I muttered.

"What did you say, Rima? I can't understand you when you mumble. Didn't your mother ever teach you that that's bad manners?"

I looked up in astonishment. Fujisaki was grinning. Grinning! He looked totally at ease, hands in his pockets, and he was, I swear, humming.

My fear was immediately replaced by a furious, burning rage. My outrage immediately became vocal, and I shouted at him "What the hell? You tell me some sick horror story, scare me to death, and then just sit back and hum Justin Beiber? Are you insane?"

He looked extremely offended. "I don't know where the insults are coming from, Rima. The story is real. I just thought you wouldn't be so scared. And Justin Beiber is a modern day phenomenon. We should be grateful that we have been blessed with his musical presence."

I stared at him dimly. "Are you on crack?" I asked.

"Be careful what you say, Rima-chan. I could get you evicted."

I glared at him and continued walking in silence. We had already covered 2 blocks. My house was coming up, and even though I was dying to run into the house, I was still afraid that if I left Fujisaki's side, psycho stalker creepy maniac would burst out of the bushes and hack me to death. But what if I ran and he decided to murder Fujisaki instead? Hmmm… but then he'd probably try to kill me…. Boo.

"I was kidding, Rima."

"Huh?" I asked. _What is up with me? _I asked myself. _I'm usually much funnier and wittier. And sexier. Damn you, Alice! _**(AN: JK xD) **My heart began to beat harder than usual. Was Fujisaki trying to apologize? The memory of his eyes was back, and I remembered their color, like honey, so amazingly-

"I was kidding. I hate Justin Beiber."

"Oh" I said, disappointed. My house was looming up ahead, and I felt a sort of gnawing feeling that I had forgotten something. I thought back to all that had happened. When I got to the memory of how I had treated him earlier, I felt bad; I had been extremely bitchy with him lately. I felt weird around him now, and I was becoming even ruder than usual.

"So, ummm, this is my house," I mumbled. Remembering what he had said earlier, I spoke up louder. "I live here."

"This house, huh? This particular house has an interesting history, do you want to hear it?" Fujisaki said, looking over the house with an air of interest. "When hell freezes over," I replied, walking up to the porch. _No! Why am I so bitchy? _I berated myself. _Baka baka baka baka! _"Uh, bye." I added, feeling thoroughly moronic.

"Goodbye," said Fujisaki, fluidly and began walking away.

Before I could stop myself, or before I even thought about what I was doing, I yelled out. "Fu-Fujisaki-san!" I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for earlier." There. I had delivered that line with elegance and grace(if you ignored my stuttering), without sounding like a lame, wimpy Mary-sue. I felt proud.

"It's Nagihiko," was the reply that tilted my world. "What?" I asked. "Well," he sighed, "I guess if I'm calling you Rima, it's only fair you call me Nagihiko."

"Uh-huh," I mumbled

"Oh," he added, "and I'm sorry for scaring you." My heart skipped a beat. I stared at him from my front doorstep, and across the dark, his eyes were gleaming in the light from the porch... "You should have seen your face though, like you were about to be eaten by a shark or something-"

"Get the hell off my lawn!" I yelled. Cackling, he ran away, calling over his shoulder, "See you later, Rima!"

Inside my house, things were still chaotic. Mama was snoring on the sofa, wearing what looked like a wedding dress. I noticed the picture in her hand. My parent's wedding day. Snorting in disgust, I tried to wake her up, to no avail. Knowing I would never be able to drag her all the way to her bed, I grabbed a blanket and tossed it over her. I then proceeded to walk into my room, dead tired.

As I flopped on my bed for the second time that day, I became aware of two things-

1)I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and Amu had never given me the promised cookies.

2)I was still wearing Nagihiko's sweater.

I sighed. Not even bothering to change for bed, I pulled the jacket closer around me and began to drift into a nice sleep.

Then it hit me. The thing I had been missing. The thing I had forgotten to do.

Fujisaki Nagihiko still had the love letter.

"Shit," I mumbled, and rolled over in my bed.

Hello everyone~! It's lovely to see you de arimasuka~!

*sigh* I know, I know. I chapter is WAAAY too short for my liking, and probably yours too. I apologize *begins to sob*

See, I should explain my predicament. As soon as school ended for me, I felt so bored! All my friends are broke and in summer school, so I've spent my days cleaning and cooking and taking care of my evil little cousin. So one night trying to get to sleep, I realized that I was all out of ideas. That came as a shock, seeing as the two weeks previous to school's ending I had spent time drawing comics during class. Maybe I need some annoying teacher's drone to get inspired...

Well, anyway, so that night I began freaking out and began wracking my brain for some sort of ideas. See, in my mind I always have a gazillion ideas for fanfics, but I never write anything because I'm busy (**coughcoughlazycoughcough**) So as I was reviewing all my ideas, I realized that they all sounded SO. CLICHE.

I almost was hyperventilating by the time I sat up in bed. I needed to do something, duh. But what could I do? I began to make a list of all these ideas, discarding the ones that I had seen in many fanfics.

Soon enough, I struck gold. I had a few ideas that no one had really used before, and I drifted off to sleep (somewhat) peacefully. In the morning I began writing down all these different stories and plots, picking off the ones that were cliché and angsty (like dying in a shipwreck, dying in a plane crash, suicide, etc.) I decided I wanted a comedy, but enter problem- I'm not exactly hilarious HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LMAO or anything. Nor do I stay on plot a lot. So what I really need as a beta is not so much someone who can check my grammar and stuffles, but someone who can read a chapter and be like "THAT SUCKED!" without fear. JK. But I really need someone like a coauthor for the story. :'(

On the other hand, I got some great offers of help already! ^^ Thanks to everyone who favorite storied my work or did the story alert thing. I almost cried when I saw it :') I love you guys~

Flip the Paige-san, you rock. I DID steal that from Furuba! :D You deserve a virtual cookie for your awesomeness.

Actually, everyone reading this does. So here! *Begins to hand out cookies* ^^ Thanks for reading! Please review! All this constructive criticism is good for me :D


	3. Hectic School Day

_Fujisaki Nagihiko still had my letter. _AsI stomped to the bathroom, I wanted to smack myself. How could I forget about the stupid letter? It had been right there, in front of me. I was in a bad mood; it had been a terrible night, filled with nightmares of ghosts and gore. I had awakened in the middle of the night when I needed to use the bathroom, but then I remembered the ghosts and was too freaked out to get out of bed. It was kind of a nice to awaken to sunshine and birdsong the next morning, except for the fact that it was only 6:15 am and the bird was really loud. _Gay bird, _I fumed, but it wouldn't shut up. It wasn't until I opened my window and chucked a pillow at it that it flew away, but not before giving me a death glare with his orange eyes. By that time, I was wide awake and decided to just go ahead and get ready for school.

I was brushing my teeth when I heard Mama talking to me. "Ri-chan!" She called excitedly from the foot of the stairs. "Riiiiiiiii-chan~!" I spit out the toothpaste and sighed. I wasn't late, was I? Looking over at the clock, I read 7:05. I still had plenty of time. Grabbing my backpack (which had miraculously survived the past nights events), I headed downstairs.

"Ri-chan~!" my mother beamed with pleasure. I looked at her. She was still wearing her wedding dress, and had twisted her hair up in little glittery clips. After the divorce, Mama grew her hair out. It now went a little past her shoulders. "Ri-chan, guess what?" She squealed euphorically.

"You found your wedding dress?" I asked, opening the fridge and pulling out a yogurt.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, "I found it last night and put it on to show you, but I must have fallen asleep because I never noticed you come in, so I woke up this morning in my dress and decided to make pancakes" (I eyed the stack on the counter hungrily) "when the doorbell rang and- oh yeah! You have a visitor!"

I choked on a strawberry. "Amu?" I asked hopefully, dreading the answer that I thought I already knew. "No," my mother answered (my heart skipped a beat) "It's Yaya!" "Yaya? Really?" I repeated, my relief breathing through every word.

"Oha~! " yelled Yaya, bouncing into the kitchen. " Rima-tan! How are you? Thanks for having Yaya over, Mashiro-san!" she said bouncily, bowing to Mama. "Oh, it's no trouble at all, dear" My mother giggled. "Would you like pancakes?"

And that's how Yaya ended up at my kitchen table, snarfing down pancakes with whipped cream, chocolate chips, honey and sprinkles. "You're gonna get fat, you know," I said. Yaya just laughed and pointed to my food.

"Like Rima-tan's is any healthier," she said, looking at my plate of pancakes and ice cream.

"Hey!" I countered, "The ice cream is low fat!" Mama wandered in, dressed in –oh please be a hallucination- a sailor fuku. It was a basic blue one, with a yellow bow (think Lucky Star) and an enormous pink bow in her hair.

"Look Ri-chan~! My high school uniform still fits! I haven't worn this since my graduation day! I remember the sakura blossoms floating down, and I was getting my picture taken with my friends Eri-chan and Yumi-chan when a big gust of wind passed by and my skirt flew up and it was embarrassing, I still have the picture somewhere-"

"Mama!" I cried, scandalized, "Shall we not?"

"Oh, of course Ri-chan. I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of your guest. Oh my, look at the time! Its 6:55! Don't your classes start at 8:00?"

"8:30, Mama," I corrected, "but it's ok, I guess I can be early for once."

"Hahaha," giggled Yaya, "Ri-chan is almost always late! Last time she was late the teacher almost popped a vein 'cause she's been late 38 days this semester and stuff,"

"Tehehehe," my mother whispered conspiratorially, "I know! It's such a pain to wake her in the morning, she sleeps like a log! I have no idea why she woke up so early today. Usually I encourage her to sleep in, it helps her grow and when you're an adult working and having kids you don't get much sleep, so I guess it's best to have fun in high school-"

"Goodbye, Mama," I said in my passive voice, putting on my shoes and dragging Yaya out the door.

"Bye, Mashiro-san~!" waved Yaya. "Thanks for the food! I'll try to visit more often!" My mother stood on the porch and yelled out "Bye Yaya-chan! Bye Ri-chan! Have a good day at school!"

"Rima-tan," Yaya began, somewhat quietly, "Yaya has something to tell- no, ask- you about, but you see, it's sort of-"

"Ri-chan? Your mother calls you Ri-chan?" A male voice interrupted from behind us. I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. I could hear the _swish_ of long hair. I turned and seized a handful of his (beautifully straight) indigo hair.

"Where is my goddamed letter, Fujisaki?" I snarled. He widened his eyes in mock hurt.

"Why, Ri-chan, I thought we had agreed on you calling me by my first name. Besides, you didn't want the letter, remember? You were right, all it contained was some fan boy rants and rages about how great you are-"

"You read it? You asshole! Who gave you that right? You sick, twisted- YAYA, STOP TAKING PICTURES!" Yaya grinned evilly. "The fan boys will be all over this," she said, "And the fan girls. Don't worry, I'll give you both 5% of my earnings." We both stared at her for a little bit before resuming our fight.

"-EVIL GRADE SCHOOLER-"

"-SELF RIGHTEOUS LIAR-"

"-SAID I COULD HAVE IT-"

"-NEVER MEANT IT DAMN CROSSDRESSER-"

Our voices echoed all the way down the block.

By the time I got to homeroom, my hair was sticking out like an angry cat's. Thank goodness Fujisaki isn't in my homeroom. Yaya is still in middle school, so she has to go to the other side of the campus to her classes. I was extremely pissed off as I sat down in my desk next to Amu, in the back next to the window. I buried my head in my arms. "What happened to you?" Amu asked.

"Fujisaki Nagihiko" was my muffled reply. I lifted my head in time to see Amu roll her eyes and giggle.

"I meant what miracle or catastrophe got you here on time, but if you want to talk about Nagi, then I guess-"

"Oh, hush, you," I groaned, "and if we must get on this subject, why don't we talk about the dangers of dating college boys and hell-bent on world domination Tadase? Where is he anyway? Hotori never misses."

Amu smiled so creepily that I scooted my chair back a few paces. "Oh, Tadase won't be coming to school today. Or tomorrow. Or the rest of the week, I think. It depends on… a few things," she said airily. I shivered involuntarily. "What happened to them?" I squeaked.

"Oh, nothing really," she replied breezily, "my parents came home and found the mess they had left. They broke my mother's favorite tea set, you see; she cried for three hours straight and then they came back to get their things and Daddy showed up…" her voice trailed off as she smiled dreamily.

"Amu," I said in an awed whisper, "you are my new hero. What did your dad do?"

"Oh, not _too_ much," Amu stated, "just enough to make Tadase vow to stay away from my house from now on." I laughed. "What about Tsukiyomi?"

Amu frowned, cheeks tinged with pink. "While my dad was threatening Tadase with the hatchet Mama keeps for gutting fish, Ami opened a window and he escaped." I lifted my eyebrows, impressed. "Congratulations, Amu. You finally grew a pair. Four years ago you would have never had the guts to pull that off." "RIMA!" Amu blushed. "Don't say stuff like that!" "I'm just saying, is all…" I said nonchalantly, and began to gaze out of the window.

Our homeroom teacher entered and classes began. The day passed by like a blur (I never pay attention in class). I was drawing different ways to murder Fujisaki in science class when my teacher, Miyamoto-sensei, eyed me much like the way an eagle spots it prey and swooped down upon me, the evil I-hate-being-a-teacher-to-ungrateful-brats-and-the-fact-that-I'm-middle-aged-and-unmarried-and-I'm-going-to-take-out-my-frustrations-on-an-innocent-student smile in place. "Mashiro," he began, "would _you _like to explain the Carnot cycle to us?"

"No thanks, I'll pass."

"Then I suggest you put away your little art supplies and join us in class, if you want to graduate, that is. What are you drawing anyway? Are those-" he paused for a dramatic effect "-little hearts?"

The class began to laugh, leaning over their desks to get a good view of my artwork. I smiled icily to my teacher. "No, they're blood spots. I'll put away my work anyway, Miyamoto-sensei. May I suggest, in return, that you put away your toupee as you walk to your car; it's uncommonly windy this time of year. If you want to keep up appearances, that is."

The class burst out in further hysterics as Miyamoto-sensei blushed and spluttered. At that moment, the lunch bell rang, and everyone grabbed their bentos and ran out to lunch. Out in the hall, classmates and fan boys surrounded me, congratulating me and laughing. I smiled and walked to lunch with Amu, in a _much_ better mood than I had been earlier. "That was awesome," Amu told me, "I want to keep that in my memory forever. Man, I've never seen a funnier expression."

"Then you should have seen Ri-chan's face last night while I told her a ghost story," Mr. Creepy Stalker said from behind us. _There goes my mood,_ I thought glumly.

"Ri-chan? Who's Ri-chan?" Amu asked, confused, "Whoa- hold on! You guys walked home together? Nagi, you walked her home?" Her eyes were full of sparkles as she said gleefully "I knew you two would make a cute couple! I am so-"

"Amu!" I cut her off, "It's not like that. I mean, it's not like I could get rid of him. I _had_ to walk with him, because he lives on my street."

"Oh, that's right, you moved, Rima! So you live in the same neighborhood as Nagi? That's so cool!"

"Oh, it is," Fujisaki told her, "especially when it comes to ghost stories, Ri-chan is such a good sport-"

"Don't call me Ri-chan, Fujisaki!" I warned him. "Only my mother can call me that!"

"Why Ri-chan," He said silkily, "I thought we had agreed that you'd call me Fujisaki, remember? After I gave you my sweater and walked you to your doorstep, are you still going to be so heartless?"

I thought Amu was going to have a heart attack, the way she was spazzing out. I gritted my teeth. I was trapped and there was no way to get out of here with my dignity intact. Was I going to have to surrender to a cross dressing homo?

Just then, I spotted a big clump of fan boys, on their way to eat outside. As they passed by, my eyes welled up with tears and I wailed (loud enough to be heard through the entire hallway) "Fujisaki, how could you be so mean and call me such names? I've never done anything to hurt you, so why are you treating me, a lady, in this way?"

About 150 heads turned around to stare at us, and the already loud voices began to whisper double speed. I tried my best not to laugh at Fujisaki's now pink ears. Then, from behind us, Kirishima reddened and yelled out, "No way! Fujisaki, you have no right to treat Rima that way!" "Yeah!" echoed the fan boys from all around, as they drew closer around us. Fujisaki stood, paralyzed, as 150 pairs of eyes bored into his skull. "What?" he said, widening his eyes innocently. Fan girls began to whisper and giggle. Fujisaki flashed me a triumphant look. This did not go unnoticed by the fan boys. By now, the whole hallway was silent and watching as, whimpering; I stood on my tiptoes so the crowd could see me. A single tear rolled off my cheek.

"That was so mean," I whispered in my small voice, and then hugged Amu and pretended to sob.

The fan boys advanced upon Fujisaki, screaming stuff about protecting poor Rima-sama and how he would pay. "Sucker," I hissed at him just as his head disappeared from view. His eyes widened in disbelief. Laughing, I grabbed Amu's hand and ran to an outside table. I love lunchtime.

Sitting at a secluded table in one corner of the courtyard, I leaned against a wall and watched the spectacle, which had now been "taken outside" by the fan boys. The scuffle had turned into a full-blown fight. Nearby, Yaya began selling pictures of me and Fujisaki to spectators. Then she began taking bets. "Nagi or fan boys? Who will win?" she yelled excitedly, as a large group of females drew closer to watch the fight. Since my view of the fight was blocked by the circle of fan boy and fan girls, I opened my bento and peered inside. Rice with green peas, two rolled eggs- "Aha!" I exclaimed triumphantly. "Pudding! What do you have for lunch, Amu?" Amu wrinkled her nose. "Ami is trying to learn how to cook, so she insisted on making my bento last night. Oh yeah," she extracted her food from its bag and pointed with her chopsticks. "Look at that. Burned curry rice and rubbery chicken in sauce." She sighed. "I wish I were an only child."

"No you don't!" I countered. "When you're alone, it's boring! You have no one to make your slave and you don't have anyone to blame things on. I used to fantasize about having a baby brother and training it to do tricks…" Amu snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that. Little kids are evil, they're little manipulative-" "Not if you train them properly," I interrupted. "It sucks being an only child. You have no one to play with." "When you have a little sibling, believe me, you get sick of playing with them. They can be so whiny and intrusive! One time, Ami had her friends over and they made a mess in the house ("So did we," I reminded her) and then Ami raided my underwear drawer and they read my diary and songbook and everything! And then Ami told my dad that I liked two boys and he went on a rampage! Plus, when you're the oldest kid, everyone expects more from you." "Yeah, but when you're an only child, everyone expects EVERYTHING from you, and since they only have one kid, they figure- 'hey, let's stuff our kid into ballet tutus and enroll her in a bunch of crap, because she's the only one we've got!'" "Yeah, but if you're older, you have to do all the housework while watching your younger sibling get spoiled to death!"

"True," admitted Kukai, sitting down and opening a bento the size of a diaper bag, "but all younger siblings fear the older sibling's retribution. Your older siblings can treat you like a slave ("See!" I told Amu triumphantly) and beat you up if you're not careful. They can get pretty mean and leave you alone, too, so it gets kind of lonely. And parents or teachers are always comparing you to your older siblings, so if you have a sibling who's a genius everyone thinks that you must be a genius too. But if you have a sibling who's a slacker or causes trouble, you're screwed. Oh, but the worst has got to be having an older sibling who's a loser. I mean, let's face it, would we be nice to Tadase's little brother?" "WHAT?" squealed Amu, as Kukai and I high fived. "Are you going to eat that?" asked Kukai, pointing to Amu's pathetic excuse of a lunch. "Eat it," Amu said, pushing it towards him. "Thanks," Kukai said, already shoveling food into his mouth. "Here," I passed a rolled egg and some rice to Amu, "I'm not evil and won't see a friend starve, even though I promised her cookies if she would be nice and take some time from her busy day to come over." Amu rolled her eyes and began eating. "Sorry," she said through a mouthful of rice, "I'll bring you some tomorrow." "If you're bringing cookies, give me some to take to that old bat over there," Kuukai pointed to Tanaka-sensei, the only female gym teacher in our school. "Maybe she'll get off my ass about being an 'evil male'." Tanaka-sensei was marching across campus with a furious expression on her face. Big and angry, she was one teacher you _definitely_ did not want to mess with. "What's she doing here?" asked Amu. "I dunno, maybe all the bathroom stalls are full and she doesn't know where to have lunch anymore," I said in a deadpan voice. We all began to crack up when suddenly; we heard yells and quick footsteps. We turned to stare at the fleeing mob by the double doors that lead outside.

Tanaka-sensei was pulling kids away from the fight. "Whoa, they were still fighting?" I whispered to Amu. "Your fan boys are pretty rabid," she informed me. "Yeah," chimed in Kukai, "one time, they cornered me by the bus stop and tried to stuff me in a trash can for patting your head. If it hadn't been for Utau, I don't know what would have happened." "I see who wears the pants in your relationship," I commented snidely. "Hey," interrupted Amu hastily, "is it just me, or is Tanaka-sensei coming this way?" We turned to watch. Sure enough, Tanaka-sensei was stalking over to us, kicking stray bits of litter and muttering scary-sounding stuff. A mob of fan boys were trailing behind her, wearing frightened, angry faces. "Not good," whispered Kukai. She was staring straight at us, looking threatening. "I-have-to-go-to-class-now-bye-guys." Kukai said hurriedly, standing up to bolt. "SOMA!" screamed Tanaka-sensei. "I hope that you are standing up in greeting to me, a female, as I approach you!" "Tanaka-sensei-" began Kukai lazily, but he never stood a chance. In less than 10 seconds, Tanaka-sensei had crossed the courtyard and had Kukai in a headlock, pinned up against the wall. "I assume the answer was yes!" Yelled Tanaka-sensei, a murderous glint in her eyes. "Y-yes," choked out a terrified Kukai. "Good," said Sensei, releasing Kukai, who slid down the wall gasping for air. Then she turned and looked at us. "Mashiro?" She eyed me sharply. "Yes?" I squeaked out, terrified.

Tanaka-sensei looked me up and down before turning to the fan boys with a hard sort of expression. "Are you sure this is her?" she asked, eyebrows quirked. The fan boys nodded. "She looks so small," she continued. I began to grind my teeth but stopped as she turned to me again. She sighed and said, "Well, I guess it can't be helped. Come on, we're going to the principal's office." I threw a terrified glance at Amu. Rebellion came to mind, but a quick look at Kukai and I quickly dismissed the idea. Tanaka-sensei could destroy me if she wanted to. Gulping, I grabbed my lunch stuff and began walking.

On the third staircase, I was sure I was going to die. The principal's office was on the top floor of our five-story building, and Tanaka-sensei wanted me to walk in front of her lest I be molested by an 'evil male'. She kept barking at the fan boys, yelling at them for being unruly and not staying in line. There was no way I could keep up. I stopped walking, panting for breath. Immediately, all the fan boys stopped. They crowded around me, or at least, they would have if Tanaka-sensei hadn't threatened to flay them within an inch of their lives. She let me trail behind, however, so I ended up last in line. There, I spotted someone I knew. "Kirishima," I whispered. He turned to me, and I felt like backing away. He had a black eye and a cut lip. Several angry bruises decorated his face, and his uniform pants had holes in them. "Ri-rima-sama!" he said, reddening and turning away. "What happened?" I pressed. "Well, as we advanced upon the demon child, things got a bit confusing. See this bruise-" he pointed to one on his forehead, "Nobuko punched me by accident. Some got into a fight about who liked you the most (he turned even redder)and it got pretty crazy until Tanaka-sensei showed up. The seniors had finished soccer practice and so she was going to give a report about their performance when she spotted us and broke up our fight. She got very upset we were attacking Fujisaki, you see, and was furious that Yuuki-san was 'soliciting' on campus, so she sent them up first. Rima-sama-" I cut him off. "Fujisaki's already up there?" I spluttered. Not waiting for an answer, I flew up the stairs, ignoring the burning in my legs.

As I neared the top of the stairs (which, due to my running ability, was about the same time as the rest of the fan boys), I turned the corner and smacked into Yaya. "Rima-tan~!" Yaya screamed in my ear, "Yaya has been looking all over for you! Yaya didn't want to be alone with all these ugly boys, you see (the fan boys gave her glares) and Yaya heard that they were going to call you and so Yaya got all excited~! By the way, Rima-chan," Yaya whispered confidentially, "they're going to call you in to talk to the principal to tell your side of the story. And that's where your 'Ace' comes in!" she yelled. "'Ace'?" I asked, uncertainly."What's 'Ace'?" "It's not what, Rima-tan, it's _who_," said Yaya, proudly strolling the length of the hallway. We neared a big window with relative privacy (the hallway was crowded with the fan boys); Yaya seized my arm and dragged me behind a curtain. "You see, Rima-tan," Yaya began, summoning glasses out of nowhere and nodding her head, "Yaya heard some scary stuff going on in the office while you were downstairs. But it seems that the faculty is having a hard time believing that a small, shy girl started such a huge fight. Tanaka-sensei especially. See, Rima-tan, Tanaka-sensei got dumped by her boyfriend last year. Apparently she's still having a hard time getting over such an 'evil male'."

In my mind, everything clicked. Why Tanaka-sensei hated men. Why she always ate alone in the bathroom. Why she made the girls reading _Romeo and Juliet_ during gym class run 5 extra laps and do 20 pushups. I didn't know whether to find it sad or funny. I went with funny.

Yaya did too, so we laughed for a while until she asked, "You know what this means, don't you, Rima-tan?" "Not really," I said. "I still don't know what 'Ace' is." "Silly Rima-tan! It means you have an ace card to play! Tanaka-sensei hates boys. All the teachers are scared of Tanaka-sensei. But Tanaka-sensei is sympathetic to all females who aren't raven-haired. Yaya knows because she heard Tanaka-sensei and Yukari-sensei talk about dark-haired whores after school the other day." Yaya grinned evilly. "Everyone but Mashiro-san, in here immediately!" The harassed school secretary, Suzuki-san, called, ushering the boys into the school conference room. "Mashiro-san, you may go in now," She grabbed my lunch things out of my hands and motioned to the principal's door. "Yuuki-san, didn't the principal tell you to go back to class now?"she questioned. "Ok~!" Yaya said in a singsong voice. "Good luck Rima-chi! Don't forget- 'Ace'!" she winked and skipped down the stairs.

I walked into the principal's office and sat down in a chair by the door uneasily. The principal took one look at me and looked back at Tanaka-sensei and- oh no- Miyamoto-sensei. _I'm screwed,_I thought. The principal was an old senile Dumbledore, so that was ok, but how was I supposed to convince the teachers that I was an innocent victim when I had just humiliated one during his class? _Ace,_ Yaya had said. Well, 'Ace' wasn't exactly my biggest fan. She like Yaya well enough, because Yaya had enough energy to keep up her psycho demand and pass her class, but me? I would collapse after the second lap around the outside track. _No, no,_ I thought, I must remain strong. Maybe the principal and Tanaka-sensei would take my side if I spun a story in which I was a clearly marked victim. I knew Miyamoto-sensei was beyond even my most cunning tricks. I knew what I had to do.

Looking down at the floor, my eyes filled with crocodile tears and I wrapped a strand of hair around one finger. I looked up and tried to look scared. "Sensei-," I began, but Tanaka-sensei cut me off. "See, Principal?" she offered. "She's nothing but a scared, innocent girl. Can't even run two laps in my class without stopping. How is this midget going to start a fight?"

If it hadn't been for the fact that Tanaka-sensei was an ex bodybuilder and my ass was on the line here, I would have gotten up and started hurling stuff around the room. _Concentrate,_ I told myself, _innocent female victim. _I opened my mouth to speak, but Miyamoto-sensei gasped out "Innocent? _Innocent_? Principal, I'm sorry to say this, but this_- child_ here is a manipulative, smart mouthed, nosy, rude teenager who should have never been admitted into our prestigious school. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was a guardian- and Lord knows how she managed that with her test scores- she would have never gotten in!" "Miyamoto!" Tanaka-sensei said sharply, "How dare you be so insensitive in front of a young female! You ought to be ashamed; you're an evil male, just like the rest. Look at her, she's _crying_, for heaven's sake!" "That girl-" Miyamoto pointed at me, "interrupted my class and made some- unfounded accusations against me!" "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to point?" Tanaka-sensei slapped at his hand. That did it for Miyamoto-sensei.

Watching the two biggest teachers in your school engage in hand to hand combat is scary stuff. Books and glass figurines rained down as they gripped each other and tried to lay down punches and throws. Through the window, I saw Yaya perched on a tree, taking pictures. I grinned as she gave me thumbs up sign. I owed Yaya one. I discreetly opened up my camera and snapped a picture.

The flash went off, though, and Miyamoto-sensei began hollering things about how I ought to be expelled, and Tanaka-sensei jumped to my defense. It was hilarious, watching this go on. Yaya had switched the camera for a camcorder, and this would have gone on for a long time if the principal hadn't stood up and yelled out "SILENCE!" Immediately, Miyamoto-sensei and Tanaka-sensei got up off the floor and began to brush off dust.

The Principal, whose name is Yamada or something, got down on his hands and knees and cradled a fallen figurine. "The iridescent unicorn," he whispered, tears leaking out of his eyes. He looked sharply up at Miyamoto-sensei and Tanaka-sensei. "And the looming dragon," he continued, dusting off another figurine. "The charging ox, the dancing bear. All priceless figurines, all ruined," he paused and sniffed. I sat, rooted onto my chair. _What the hell? _I asked myself. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" The principal wailed out, causing the teachers to stiffen and me to clench my fists. He held up a half of a figurine, the rest of it having been pulverized to dust by the fight. "The purple flamingo, completely destroyed."

In an act of fury that scared the crap out of me, the principal threw himself on the floor, sobbing and beating the ground with his fists. Outside of the window, Yaya was hanging off a branch, capturing every second of this old man tantrum. The teachers looked extremely nervous, glancing at each other and at the principal. Finally, the principal sat up on the ground and sniffled, wiping tears out of his eyes. Then he spoke to the teachers. "These figurines you ruined- do you have any idea how much they cost? It took me years of tracking to find them, years and years of searching…." He narrowed his eyes glared at the teachers. "These figurines cost 8,000,000 yen." "E-each?" Stuttered Miyamoto-sensei, horrified. "No, you blithering idiot! I meant in total. Do you think I have that much money? I wouldn't be here if I did. Now, you will have to pay these back, of course. But the girl, hmmm, yes." He turned to look at me, and the teachers followed suit. "Principal, I must state that this girl is not what she appears to be, today in class-" the Principal cut Miyamoto-sensei off. "I heard what she said in your class, Miyamoto. I was walking the halls during that time. Don't look at me that way, dammit! I do other stuff than just write Harry Potter fan fiction. Anyway, I heard what she said." "Don't you think that that sort of conduct is highly-" "If highly accurate is what you are about to say, then you would be correct. It has been windy recently. I don't blame the child, either. You seem to have a stick up your ass a whole lot lately. I have laughed at you with the rest of the faculty behind your back as well. Your toupee is on the floor, by the way." Miyamoto reddened and snatched it off the floor, setting it back on his head in a brisk manner. Outside on a tree, Yaya was dying of laughter.

"Principal," said Tanaka-sensei, "I think we should seriously rethink this whole business. The Fujisaki boy _clearly_ stated that she was not to blame for the incident." "True," the principal said, "But we must think up a suitable punishment for the lot of those boys. They attacked another student, and fighting is forbidden on school grounds."

They discussed this for a while. I sat with my mouth open, processing what had been said. _The Fujisaki boy clearly stated that she was not to blame for the incident._ What? Fujisaki stated that I wasn't to blame. That made no sense. Why would he do that?

"-explain what happened as soon as the Fujisaki boy comes back from the nurse's," the principal was saying. "And I want that Kirishima kid in here too. He seems to know what happened amongst the other boys. Mashiro, please go stand in the hall until we call you again." I quickly obeyed.

Standing in the hall, by the window where Yaya and I had spoken earlier, I realized that my knees were shaking and my hands were clenched up in fists. I was losing it, I decided. What was happening to me? Why was I so flustered by all of this? This made no sense. I was breathing hard and was trying to sort out all the confusion in my brain. If Fujisaki hadn't ratted me out, who had?

Footsteps could be heard on the stairs, and who should appear but Fujisaki himself. I was suddenly aware that we were in this deserted hallway _alone_. Gulping, I tried to hide behind the curtain, but he had already seen me. He walked over to the window and leaned against the glass. "_So_," he began. "So…" I echoed timidly back. "Hi, Fujisaki?" I tried. He shook his head and closed his eyes. I took this opportunity to study his face.

He was pretty badly beat up, even when compared to some of the fan boys. He had several bandages, a bunch of scratches and a now-purpling bruise on his cheek. His right arm was bandaged and in a swing. His left hand was bandaged. Mostly he was dirty. His uniform pants were torn, and a part of his collar was ripped away. His tie was ripped, stained and twisted. I felt a twinge of guilt. "Fu-Fujisaki-" I started, but he held up his hand and I stopped, discouraged. Finally, he spoke. "What do you want, Mashiro?"

It took me a moment to answer, mostly because his answer had stung me a bit and I didn't know why. It wasn't until later that I realized that I was a bit hurt that he had called me 'Mashiro' instead of the usual 'Rima-chan'. I began to stammer out gibberish. "Wh-what's going- I mean, do you know-I mean-"

The door to the principal's office flew open and Tanaka-sensei waved us inside. Seeing Fujisaki, Miyamoto-sensei brightened. Of course, I had forgotten. Honor roll, straight A student Fujisaki was a total teacher's pet. I resisted the urge to gag. Kirishima entered and we all sat down, Kirishima to my left and Fujisaki to my right. After conferring for what fely like forever, the teachers and the principal turned and looked at us. Miyamoto-sensei cleared his throat. "Fujisaki, would you like to explain your side of the story?" he asked. Fujisaki nodded swiftly and began. "Well, I was walking in the halls with A-Hinamori-san and Mashiro-san and we were talking-" "LIAR!" bellowed Kirishima, "You where harassing her!" "Kirishima!" yelled Miyamoto-sensei, "it's not your turn! Continue, Fujisaki." "Well, we were talking and Mashiro and I got into a discussion-" "You where yelling at her!" Kirishima cut in again. Whoa, when was Fujisaki yelling at me? It seemed the fan boys had over exaggerated the incident in their minds. The argument burst out, loud and clear.

"-WERE TALKING-"

"-YELLING AT HER-"

"-WOULD NEVER-"

"-CALLING HER NAMES-"

"SHUT UP!"

Principal Dumbledore guy was glaring at us all. "I'm missing an important World of Warcraft meeting for this idiotic situation. Here is what we DO know- Fujisaki and Mashiro got into some sort of an argument in which some unruly hooligans got involved. It escalated into a fight. This, in itself, wouldn't be such a big deal if a student's arm hadn't been broken. Fujisaki, am I correct in believing that your wrist was also sprained?" "Yes." Said Fujisaki. _Holy shit_. This was WAY more serious than I had thought. Since when had the fan boys turned so violent?

"Very well," continued the principal, "and the fight was taken outside, right, Kirishima?" "Yes," mumbled Kirishima. "Very well," the principal said yet again, "Mashiro, I'm having a hard time figuring out where you get involved. I know you had a disagreement with Fujisaki, but where do these boys come in?"

I gulped for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. How was I going to explain that my plan to save my dignity turned into a violent riot? Kirishima answered for me. "Well, we heard Mashiro calling to us-" "Calling?" asked Miyamoto-sensei. He grinned, "So Mashiro did tell you to get involved? Dear oh dear, Mashiro, this isn't looking good for you. You could be facing expulsion." I stiffened. "Wh-well-" stammered Kirishima, "You see, Mashiro said that-" "It was my fault," Fujisaki interrupted. I noticed his fists were clenched. "WHAT?" Everyone turned to stare at him. "Thi-this cannot be, Fujisaki," breathed Miyamoto-sensei limply. "It was a misunderstanding," Fujisaki continued, looking at us innocently. "Mashiro and I were discussing something, and the fan- I mean, the _gentlemen,_" he sneered at the word, "thought wrong and came to Mashiro's defense. Isn't that right, Mashiro?" His eyes flickered over to mine, and for a brief second, I held his gaze. Lowering my eyes, I turned to the teachers. "It's true," I told them, a serious look in my eyes. "Isn't it, Kirishima?" Kirishima turned beet red and began to mumble, "Of course, of course, Rima-sama," "So this whole thing was a misunderstanding?" the principal pressed further. Looking him in the eyes, Fujisaki and I said "Yes."

"Oh, I see," the principal chuckled. "A simple misunderstanding, resulting in hours of my time wasted, important cyber battles missed, money lost, items destroyed…" he sighed and looked up at us. "Mashiro, Fujisaki" we both nodded. "GET OUT OF MY OFFICE! Don't come back until we settle out your punishment things. Don't go back to class; we don't want you showing off." We scrambled to get out as, fuming, he locked the door behind us.

So Fujisaki and I got the boot. Great. We had been up in the office for about two and a half hours, and now it was 3:05. There was half an hour until we could go home. Checking my phone, I found about fifteen texts. I opened it and began to read.

Twelve texts were from Amu, asking what had happened and if I was ok and where was I and why the hell wasn't I answering her? There was one from Kukai, which basically asked the same thing as Amu's- what were they going to do and what had happened and good luck because if Tanaka-sensei doesn't like you she'll kick you where it hurts or whatever. The other two were from Yaya, probably sent during the teacher's fight. They read stuff like 'Awesome~!' and 'Ahahahahahahaha Miyamoto-sensei wears a wig xD'. Heh. Leaning idly against the window, I attempted to find some calm. These past two hours had been way to stressful for me.

Closing my eyes, I became aware that a heavenly scent was drifting past me, close to me, all around me, it seemed. I inhaled deeply. It was delicious and somehow familiar. Either way, the smell comforted me.

I was beginning to relax when I heard a throat clear beside me. The calm that I had a second ago evaporated. I felt my muscles tense. Opening my eyes, I saw Fujisaki leaning on the wall opposite me. He was looking right at me, and I could see the fire in his eyes. His gaze scorched me from three feet away.

"Fu-Fujisaki-" I tried again, but still there was silence from him. I could feel his anger. Summoning all my willpower, I locked eyes with him.

I felt goosebumps rise all over me and felt like my body was on fire. I felt paralyzed and weak for some reason. _Holy shit_, I thought weakly, _I'm sick._ I didn't let my gaze wander, though. My eyes stared straight ahead and I tried to read Fujisaki's mind. What was he thinking?

We must have stayed like that for a long time, although it could have only been three minutes. But it felt like it never ended. The look was back, in his eyes, it told me nothing and made me feel like a complete and total moron. It was all I could do to keep his gaze.

"You have no idea, do you?" His voice suddenly rang out, so loudly and clearly that I almost jumped. "Wh-what?" I blurted out, my composure slipping. His jaw tightened and he looked away. I felt panic rising through me. What had I done? This was so unfair. Fujisaki screws with me and no one does or says anything. I try to defend myself have to face expulsion, only to have the person who tried to destroy me come and rescue me. It made no sense. I felt lame, confused, weak and wimpy. Internally I groaned. I knew what I had to do, the thing I hated most. I sighed and tried to regain my dignity. _Just do it Rima! _I gritted my teeth and began.

"I-I'm sorry Nag-"

The door banged open and Kirishima emerged, looking considerably shaken. "Come on in!" barked Tanaka-sensei, as she ushered Fujisaki and I inside as Kirishima sprinted for the stairs. "We've decided," said Miyamoto-sensei, "that since this was a misunderstanding, none of you deserve serious punishment, and though I'm inclined to punish Mashiro more severely-" the principal glared at tapped his watch, so Miyamoto skipped his monologue and continued, "Anyway, Mashiro, you will receive one detention. You may return to your classes now. Fujisaki, we must talk with you privately."

I was quickly ushered out and the door was, once more, locked behind me. _If they think I'm going back to class they're crazy_, I thought. The dismissal bell rang on twenty minutes, but those were twenty minutes of stares I certainly would not be able to handle with grace. When no one came out behind me, I pressed myself onto the wall next to the door and tired to hear what they were saying. I heard some light snores in the back as Miyamoto-sensei was speaking.

"- gave him a black eye. Mochizuki is under the impression that you busted his lip. Kimura claims that you where the one who broke his arm. These are very serious accusations, Fujisaki. Your school record is spotless. This could seriously jeopardize your future."

"I apologize, Miyamoto-sensei."

"Fujisaki, you are a great student, one of the best in the school. You have great potential. We don't want to see you go to waste. I'll tell you what, we'll write this down as self defense." Heard some papers shuffle. "But if you cross the line again, we'll be forced to punish you more severely."

"I understand," Fujisaki said. "Thank you for your support."

At the sound of chairs scraping over the floor the snores ceased. "Otaku! Comiket! Weaboo! Great goddesses of fanfiction, is it over already?" the principal asked. "My goodness, Miyamoto, your voice really puts one to sleep. Very well, I see you have agreed to our terms. Thank you. Now all of you get out of my office."

I didn't wait to hear more. I ran down the hall and bumped into Suzuki-san. Snatching my lunch things, I ran down the stairs and into the girl's bathroom on the second floor. I waited until I heard their footsteps die away to come out, and even then I didn't come out. Fujisaki had just beaten the crap out of a bunch of fan boys. What the hell? How was this possible? He was a girly boy with long hair! A frickin' crossdresser!

The worst part was the fact that he hadn't just punched them, he'd actually hurt them. A lot. I mean, a broken arm? Fujisaki was the most level headed, calm, annoying person I knew. It was like he had flipped into some evil sort of Fujisaki. How had this happened? What could have driven him so far out of control? And why was I so freaked out by this news? The dismissal bell shrieked, prompting me to run out of the bathroom before a million girls came in to readjust their makeup and let down their skirts. I didn't want them to see me this way. I dashed out to my locker on the first floor, grabbed my backpack, and was probably the first person off campus. But running has never been my forte, and so after the first block I was wiped out. I stumbled down to a bench and let my hair cover my face, hoping no one would notice me and begin the whispering and inquiring looks.

I was really tired and wanted to take a nap, so it was no surprise that I dozed off. What was a surprise was to awaken to Fujisaki frantically shaking me, trying to wake me up.

I was momentarily disoriented, so it wasn't until I remembered everything that I reacted. Standing up swiftly, I slapped his hand off my shoulder. "Fujisaki, what are you doing here?"

The thing that happened next was so un-Fujisaki like that I woke up the next morning thinking it was a dream. "GODDAMMIT RIMA!" he yelled at me, grabbing me by the shoulders. "Where the hell have you been? I was looking all over for you; Amu-chan was frantic, I thought- I thought-"

"Get off of me!" I yelled. "What is wrong with you? I demanded furiously. "You've been acting so stupid-"

"Me? Stupid? Rima, are you out of your mind? What the hell are you trying to prove anyway? You have got to be the densest person ever! Completely blind not to notice!"

"Get_ off_ of me!" I growled again, sliding out of his grasp, "What are you talking about? What don't I know? You act all high and mighty, it pisses me off!"

"Good!" he yelled, "Maybe you'll think a little more before you do stupid things next time. Where have you been these past four years, Rima? Honestly, if you were any slower-"

"Don't talk to me like that!" I screamed. "I'm smart enough to not leave traces of what I've done behind! You are the stupid one. Why the hell did you break the fan boy's arm? Where do you get off doing that?"

"You have no idea what they say about you! The way they talk about you, it's disgusting, really, and you act all innocent and egg them on-"

"Who says what about me, Fujisaki? What are you trying to imply? That I'm some sort of a- some kind of- some whore? Is that what you're saying? Those boys worship me. They're my slaves-"

"They were! They're not anymore! How long has it taken you to realize it? Those feelings, they're not schoolboy crushes anymore! They're teenage men, Rima, they don't even think twice about stuff like that-"

"That's not true, you crossdressing liar, don't-"

Then something really scary happened. Fujisaki pushed me back and pinned me against a telephone pole. I stood, petrified, as he grabbed my face between my hands and stared into my eyes.

"Are you retarded? I could have left the fight any time I wanted! I was going to leave at first, but then I heard it," his face contorted with anger. "They were saying stuff, awful stuff, about you Rima. The stuff they were saying, I couldn't take it, I was furious, I suddenly couldn't control myself…" his voice trailed off and he stared into my eyes.

"Th-that's not true," I managed to stutter out. "You- you hate me, Fujisaki, and I hate you, so don't lie to me-"

Fujisaki pushed me away. "Grow up Rima!" he yelled at me. "Things have changed! Nothing is the way you want it to be now, and you have to accept it! I did! The world doesn't revolve around you!" And he ran down the street, like lightening.

Fujisaki was a stupid, lying, untrustworthy, coldhearted jerk, and so one should pay attention to him. At least, that's what I tried to tell myself that night, as I lay sobbing on my bed, wrapped up in his sweater.

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but as you can see, it's very long. I hope you guys like it and find it original.

Ok, so I totally forgot in the last chapter, but_ hamaka_ are the red pant-things that priestesses use in Japan, like Rei in Sailor Moon.

Anyway, I'm so happy! LizziGLee12 has agreed to be my beta! :') So now, hopefully, you'll get better chapters! :I

Ok, so in my gratitud to all of you who are following my story, here are some spoilers:

*Yaya is a very important character in this story. I mean like she has a whole subplot dedicated to her. So be on the lookout for Yaya hints.

*The letter is another super integral part of this story. The mystery behind the letter won't be cleared up until chapter five, so hold on tight.

*If all goes well, this story will have 3 different arcs! :D

And a random bit of trivia:

*I made up the horror story from the last chapter myself lol. Sorry if it's no good, I hate blood and gore stuff.

*Tanaka-sensei is based off of Cher's gym teacher in the movie _Clueless. _If you got that reference, you are awesome :)

*The principal is based off of Dumbledore from Potter Puppet Pals and the Osmond from Zero no Tsukaima, a most amazing series. :B

Well, that's about it! I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks so much for reading!

~ Alice


	4. Selfishness

_Fujisaki was a stupid, lying, untrustworthy, cold-hearted jerk, and so no one should pay attention to him._

At least, that's what I tried to tell myself that night, as I lay sobbing on my bed, wrapped up in his sweater.

As I woke up the next morning, my brain contemplated faking sick, but my body told me I might not even have to fake it. I had an awful headache and my eyes were puffy from crying. Last night I had come home and just gone to bed. As I got up, I groaned. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. My mind was on overload as I stumbled to the bathroom. I hadn't been able to sleep well at all last night; I had spent the whole night awake, playing and replaying events in my head. I didn't get anything, I felt so helpless. I had been feeling like that an awful lot lately, it was unnerving. Was I not the amazing, famous Mashiro Rima, Queen's chair? I glumly stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were still red, and my hair was unmanageable. I had forgotten to bathe last night, and glancing at the clock, I read 7:55. No time for a bath, and I had to go to school to face everyone, everything, that I didn't understand.

I stumbled to the stairs and called out in a weak, sick voice "Mama!" "We're down here!" Mama's cheerful voice replied. _We? Please be Yaya, please be Yaya-_

"OHA! Rima-tan! Good morning!" Yaya bounced in and glomped me.

"Good morning…" I managed weakly. Behind me, my mother gasped.

"Mashiro Rima, turn around and let me see you! My goodness," she said, holding a hand to my head, "you don't have a fever, but you look awful!"

"Thanks," I mumbled sarcastically. "I have a headache."

"Oh, no, Ri-chan, that's terrible! Where does it hurt? When did you start feeling this way? What should I do? Should I take you to the hospital? Maybe you have an incurable disease! My poor little baby, all ill!" my mother smothered me in one of her motherly choke-holds, reaching for the phone.

"Mama, I'm fine! I just need some rest and I'll be fine." I told her, but she still opened her traditional Japanese medicinal kit.

"Let's see… Powdered rhinoceros horn, dried seahorses, crumbled shark tooth-"

I grimaced in disgust. "Mama! Aren't those illegal?"

She looked at me innocently. "Of course, Ri-chan, but you'd be surprised with the stuff you can find at farmers' markets and bazaars, one time I found a clump of unicorn hair for sale-"

"Mama! You know those are just scams!"

She gaped at me. "Don't you believe in unicorns?"

"MAMA!"

Our conversation continued on for some time until Yaya spoke up.

"Maybe Rima-tan shouldn't go to school today!"

"Huh?" We stared blankly back at her, still wrapped up in our conversation. Mama had opened up a book on mythical creatures and was about to find them, and I tried to dissuade her with logic. Yaya's word had interrupted the best part of our argument, in which Mama had produced a clump of what she claimed was hippogriff poo and I was trying to get her to throw the stuff away.

"That's a great idea, Yaya-chan!" My mother's eyes brightened. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you were busy rambling on about unicorns," I informed her, but she ignored me.

"Yaya will stay with you!" Yaya bounced up and down on her heels. "Yaya will keep Rima-tan company while she's lonely and sick~!"

"That's a wonderful idea Yaya," my mother exclaimed. "School only gets you so far in life, anyway."

I gaped. "You're skipping?" I looked from Yaya to my mother. "You're telling her to skip? What kind of an awesome mother are you?" I asked my mom. Standing up, I gave her a hug. "I love you."

"Yay! Rima-tan and her mother in a sweet display of affection! This will sell well!"

"Yaya! I'm in my pajamas!" I yelled, and ran upstairs to take a bath and change.

I came back down in half an hour, my hair now somewhat more compliant. In the kitchen, my mother and Yaya were busy messing up the kitchen and splattering everything with some dark brown goo. "Look, Rima-tan!" Yaya yelled out. "Chocolate waffles!"

"Waffles? Those brown lumps of charcoal?" Mama grinned up at me from the waffle iron. "We're trying more creative ways to make waffles, Ri-chan. Look," she held up a plate of soggy mush, "Ice cream waffles!"

I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk. "I'm having cereal."

"Sorry, Rima-tan, but there's no more milk left! That milk is sour; I forgot to throw it out. Wait, sour! Lemon waffles!" My mother looked excitedly at Yaya, who threw her hands up in the air and cried out, "Yay!"

I laughed at their expressions, so earnest and sincere. Why couldn't I be like that? I had been so bitchy and moody lately, angry at the world, and the harder I tried to find what was wrong and fix it, it seemed like I totally missed the mark and ruined some other part of my life. I was constantly exploding. I felt like my life was spiraling out of control, beyond me, past my reach. It was time to put a stop to this. It was time to take charge. Standing up, I walked over to where my mother and Yaya were debating how to make the lemon waffles. "How about we add orange juice instead of water?" I volunteered. Mama's mouth opened and Yaya's eyes filled with tears. "Let's do it!" they both yelled as they glomped me.

A long time later, we collapsed into the living room, still giggling. The orange juice waffles had been pretty good, and then my mom got the idea of making poison waffles for the rats in our basement, so we had tried it and accidentally ruined the waffle iron. Smoke billowed out, and we had to open the windows to let out the poisonous fumes. "I have an idea!" Mama cried, as we took off our aprons. "I'll get out the picture albums!" "Good idea, Mashiro-san! Yaya wants to see baby Rima-tan!" So Mama skipped into her room to go drag out the boxes.

Yaya and I sat down on the floor, stretching out, as Mama brought out several boxes. "Here they are!" she called out happily. "Careful, Mama!" I told her, grabbing two boxes out of her hands. She grinned sheepishly. "Ehehe..." she giggled. "These are your pictures, Ri-chan, all of your baby pictures and such. Ne, Ri-chan, go put on your uniform and I'll put on mine! That way, it'll be like we're both in high school with Yaya-chan!"

So my mother and Yaya forced me to change into my uniform. Then, after I came downstairs, Mama thought it would be cute to do _odangos _on me like Sailor Moon, so they pushed me into the bathroom and battled with my hair for TWO HOURS until it finally behaved. By then it was 11:00, and we decided to prepare lunch. Mama was out of vegetables for soup, so we were dragged with her to the market as she picked out fruits and all sorts of foods. A police officer eyed us suspiciously, no doubt correctly guessing that two thirds of our party were truants. I told Mama, but she and Yaya were having too much fun wearing down the salespeople with their bargaining skills.

"How much for the watermelons?" Mama inquired. "They're cheap," the man told her. "Only 80 yen each."

Mama's eyes narrowed shrewdly as she eyes the fat, juicy watermelon. "Can't you lower the price any?" She said in a sweet tone.

"Well, you see, ma'am, I'm selling them real cheap. I get these delivered fresh from the country daily, and with gas prices it don't come cheap-"

"Ehhh," Mama innocently widened her eyes, "but over there they're selling the, for 65 yen, so…" Over there, by the way, doesn't exist. Mama's sharp when it comes to bargaining.

The man gulped as Mama began to walk away. "Wait! I guess I could sell you them for 63 yen each, how about that? That's a whole lot of money knocked off, you know, it barely covers all the gas money."

Mama smiled nicely at him. "This one has a dark spot on it," she informed him. "I'm sure you can lower the price on this one too, can't you?"

"How about 60 yen?"

"Can you make it 50 yen?"

"Sorry, that'd be losing money."

"Very well. My goodness, there are a lot of flies here! You could get people sick from this." Mama's eyes glinted as she raised her voice, catching all the nearby shoppers' attention. "People could get malaria! I had a friend that bought watermelons from a place with flies, and she got so sick that she was hospitalized for months and they thought she would die, and her family filed a complaint against the store where she had gotten sick, and the health department closed the place up and the people went bankrupt-"

"50 yen it is!" The desperate man cried out, backing away from her.

We ended up leaving the market completely loaded with stuff, and had to struggle to fit it all in the trunk of the car. "Wow," Yaya informed me as she slid into the backseat. "Yaya sees where you get your blackmailing skills from, Rima-tan!" Mama's eyes widened in shock. "Why, Yaya-chan, I wasn't blackmailing him! I was simply _informing_ him of what _could_ happen if he isn't careful…" Yaya and I sniggered.

Back home in the kitchen, we put away the groceries that we had bought and began to cook the soup. Mama got some beef out of the refrigerator and put some water to boil on the stove. Yaya and I began washing and chopping up vegetables to add to the pot.

I hadn't felt like this in a long time. We were all talking and laughing, our minds untroubled. I realized that, even though maybe I hadn't noticed it before, but I had been spending an awful lot of time feeling sad and lonely recently. But right now? I felt like I could fly.

"Yaya-chan, do you live close by?" Mama asked. Yaya smiled and said "Yup! Yaya lives a few blocks to the east, but Yaya can get to Seiyo Junior High faster if she cuts through the neighborhoods instead of taking the main street. Yaya didn't know about it last year, but this year she started running in the mornings and found out about it."

"Yaya, you run?" I asked her curiously. "Ehehehe, Yaya started this year, after the school nurse told Yaya that she had gained twelve pounds over the summer..." Yaya suddenly looked uncomfortable. Mama shrieked. "Ri-chan, the pot is overflowing!" "Eh?" Sure enough, soup broth was spilling onto the floor. "Oh, no! Hang on, I'll go get the mop!" I dashed out of the kitchen just as my mother opened the soup pot lid.

Lunch was a happy affair. Mama, Yaya and I sat around our 4 person table and laughed and told stories. We were so engrossed in talking that by the time we finished eating it was 1:43. We washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen, then moved into the living room to check out the boxes we had left their earlier.

"-and then Ri-chan fell into the pond with the ducks and we had to rescue her, and she was screaming and crying because she wanted to pet them and-"

"Mama! Put that picture away!" I told her, embarrassed.

"Rima-tan, you look so cute!" Yaya squealed. "Ne, Mashiro-san, can Yaya have a copy of this?"

"Sure, Yaya-chan, I have another picture of this one in my bedroom. Hang on, I'll go get it." Mama stood up and went into her room to search for the other picture. As soon as she was gone, I turned to Yaya. "We have to talk," I told her quietly. "Sure. What's wrong Rima-tan?

"Yaya," I went point blank. "You've been acting very weird lately. What's this about? Running in the morning? You never wake up before 8 if you can help it. You're keeping secrets from us, aren't you?"

Yaya suddenly looked panicked. It was so unlike Yaya that I felt my breath catch in my throat. Yaya looked genuinely scared, like she had been cornered. "Rima-tan, please don't say- don't ask anything, Yaya will tell you when she can, but please, please don't, promise you won't-"

"TADA!" Mama cried, coming out of her room. Oh no, please no-

"I found my old cosplays! Look, here's my princess fairy cosplay! Isn't it cute?"

"Mama," I interrupted, "what are you wearing?"

"This was the waitress costume we used for our school's café! It's adorable! The class president, Minami-chan, decided that we'd be assigned a different animal according to our personality. I got a bunny! See my ears?" she pointed to the top of her head.

"Why is the sleeve ripped, Mashiro-san?" Yaya asked my mother.

"Oh, Eri-chan, Yumi-chan and I got into a fight with this girl named Junko. She was jealous of Eri-chan because she liked Eri-chan's boyfriend. Eri-chan dressed up as a puppy and Junko called her a bitch, so Yumi-chan and I ambushed her after we closed up. Yumi-chan threw hot water on her and I pushed her face first into the garbage pile." She sighed happily. "That fight was epic. It took four teachers and the principal to pull us off of her. Junko ended up transferring to another school the following semester.

I stared at Mama, openmouthed. Yaya looked over at my mother and said "Yaya sees where Rima-tan gets her fighting skills."

"Ri-chan? Fight? Of course not. Ri-chan has always been a pacifist. She used to cry whenever anyone fought, and her cousins always picked her to be referee because she was fair and never wanted to fight. She was very sweet as a child, too. Ri-chan was such a selfless child. Once she donated her entire piggy bank to an orphanage."

"I did?" I asked, surprised.

"Don't you remember, Ri-chan? We watched a special about orphans on TV once and you cried for three days. You couldn't sleep until you gave away your piggy bank. You should have seen your face when you gave it up, like someone had given you a present…." Mama looked out the window, as though she was looking far away, into the past. "You always were happiest helping someone else. That's why I'm so glad I have you with me, Ri-chan!" Mama smiled. "Oh, I forgot, Yaya-chan, here's the copy of that picture."

"Thank you, Mashiro-san!" Yaya smiled.

I sat, stunned. I had been a selfless kid? I didn't remember much about that. Actually, if I was completely honest with myself (which I often wasn't) I didn't remember much about the time before I was kidnapped. Mama talked with a counselor about that. The counselor had said something about a willful suppression of my memories, but even after three years of therapy I still wasn't able to recall certain events from my childhood. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to forget about watching Chuckie.

Mama and Yaya were laughing at a picture of me and some fat mustached uncle of mine. I think he was Papa's cousin or something, but I wasn't sure-

"-he used to give her piggyback rides and such, she really loved him, she called him Popo-san!"

Mama and Yaya laughed. I stared at the picture. I was on the man's shoulders and we were laughing together. I had chocolate smeared all over my mouth and hands, and he had a hankie in his hands, most likely to try and wipe the stuff off of me. I felt sad looking at the picture. I remembered very well he had come to visit once after I was kidnapped, and I didn't remember him. Mama and Papa had to remind me about him, but he was still pretty much a stranger to me. That night I had crept out of bed and heard them telling him about my memory problem. He said he understood and that it was ok, but as he left the next day I noticed that there were tears in his eyes. When I never saw him again, I couldn't help but feel guilty.

Pushing aside the sad memories- or rather, lack of memories- I tried to concentrate on the selflessness. The way Mama had put it, it sounded like I was the sort of kid from the pictures of a child's book. When I thought back to after I was kidnapped, all I remember was confusion and fear. I remembered most clearly the fights between my parents and fear at being taken away again, but that's about it.

I sighed and stretched my legs. We had been sitting on the floor and I had my legs curled up beside me. Looking at the clock, it now read 2:45. "Hey Yaya, don't middle school students get out at 3:20?" "Eh?" Yaya looked up brightly from a pile of pictures in her lap. "Oh, right. Yaya should be going soon. Ne, Mashiro-san, can Yaya ask a favor of you?"

Mama and I looked at her curiously. "Sure, Yaya-chan, anything," Mama replied. "Can Yaya try on the cosplays?" Yaya squealed. Mama smiled and got to her feet. "Of course! Let's all try them on! Come on, Ri-chan!"

So I spent the next half hour trying on costumes and laughing with Yaya and Mama. By the time we waved goodbye to Yaya as she took off down the block, I was feeling lightheaded with laughter. Mama and I went back into the house and began to clean up the enormous mess left behind.

As we were putting the various boxes and cosplays back into Mama's closet, I saw the bunny outfit and remembered what Mama had said about me.

"Ne, Mama?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yes, Ri-chan?"

"Did you really mean what you said about me? I mean, was I really a selfless child and all?"

Mama smiled slightly. "Of course, Ri-chan. You were a very sweet girl. You always have been. You still are."

I blushed. "Thanks, Mama."

"Of course, dear. I know that I'm a bit childish, but that doesn't mean I don't know you well." She kissed the top of my head. "I love you very much, Ri-chan."

I smiled. "I love you too, Mama."

That night I had a long, calming bath. For the first time in what felt like forever, I fell asleep quickly, my dreams untroubled.

The next day as I woke up, I felt extra energized and ready to start my day. I ended up waking up a bit late, but I was in such a good mood that I even helped Mama make breakfast. I have no idea why, but I was even humming as I buttered the toast. I couldn't help but feel disappointed that Yaya didn't show up, but I got a text from her saying that she had gotten lost while running and didn't have time to have breakfast. So I ate my breakfast quickly, kissed Mama goodbye and ran out the door to school.

It wasn't until I was halfway to school that I remembered what I had been dreading. Oh my gosh, how could I have forgotten? Two days ago, I had gotten in a fight. Had it really only been two days? It felt like it had been a week. Two days ago, I had been dragged into the principal's office; watched two teachers fight, and had almost faced expulsion. Two days ago, I had obliterated almost any hope of friendship with Fujisaki.

That last thought made my hands go cold. What friendship? What was I talking about? Didn't I hate Fujisaki? I shook my head at myself. I was such a fool! What was I thinking? I ran the way to school, steam practically blowing out of my ears.

Suddenly, I saw a flash of pink hair in front of me. "Amu!" I called, and hugged her. She turned and looked at me strangely. "Hello, Rima." She said coldly. "What's wrong, Amu?" "Nothing," she said stiffly and stalked off to class. "Amu! Wait!" I scrambled after her as the school bell rang.

In homeroom, I went to give my teacher a note from my mother explaining why I had missed school yesterday; I became aware of everyone's eyes on me. When I tried to ask Amu what was going on, she put her 'cool and spicy' act back on and told me "What are you talking about? Don't be such a baby."

The whole day was weird like that. Everyone was whispering and staring at me funny. The worst part was, I had no one to talk to, no one to stand by me. I was (successfully) trying to avoid Fujisaki, Amu-chan was furious at me, and I didn't know what was wrong. At lunchtime, Amu ran off to another corner of the campus. I couldn't find her anywhere. People started pointing at me. It was humiliating. What was wrong with everyone? I wanted to yell at them and demand answers, but instead, I walked confidently to a table in the corner of the courtyard.

I couldn't eat, with all those eyes on me. It was unnerving. I tried to eat my sushi, but my hands were shaking and I dropped my chopsticks. The girls around me started giggling, and I felt angry tears come to my eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut and let my bangs cover my face. No one was going to see me like this. "Mashiro-san," a dignified voice said in front of me. Opening my eyes, I saw Kairi standing before me, holding out an envelope. "Kairi!" I greeted him. "Who is this from?" Kairi cleared his throat importantly. "The envelope is from Yaya. The principal has requested to see you, by the way." I stood up, packing my lunch things away as quickly as possible. I was ecstatic. An opportunity to escape! "Thanks, Kairi!"

I ran away, up the stairs, and into the girls' bathroom on the second floor. No one was using it, so I barricaded myself in there and tore open the heavy envelope.

The thing practically exploded. Money fell down onto the bathroom floor. So much! Where did this come from? There was a note, too, that read:

_Rima-tan, here is the promised five percent from yesterday's pictures and bets. Spend it wisely! And about the thing yesterday, SHHHHH! It's a secret! Xoxo Yaya._

'The thing'. Yaya's secret. Curiosity burned within me. I was dying to know what it was, but she didn't want to tell me. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty serious for her to panic like that. The principal! I had to go find the principal! Right! I gathered all my stuff and continued climbing the stairs to the office.

Suzuki-san ushered me in. The Principal looked at me. "Mashiro-san, your detention will be served tomorrow afternoon, weeding the flowerbeds on the east side of the campus. Understood?"

"Yes," I bowed politely. Inwardly I groaned. The campus, which was middle school and high school combined, was huge, and the flowerbeds on the east side of the campus were enormous and required at least a ten minute walk to get to them.

"Good," he said. "Tomorrow when you've finished, come back up and sign the time sheet that Suzuki-san has. That is all."

"Thank you," I left the room. That was it? Seriously? The clock behind Suzuki-san's desk told me that there were still 10 minutes left for lunch time. I sighed. What was I supposed to do? I had nothing to go downstairs to, nothing to look forward to. Why was I filled with so much anxiety lately? Everything I had felt like it was getting ruined. What was I doing wrong? I was frustrated. Nothing was working out my way? Why? Why was I so angry, so upset, so willing to explode these days? Why did I have such dark feelings recently?

I contemplated going downstairs to class, but I didn't have the guts. I could not be idle for 10 minutes with people ogling me. So instead, I returned to the second floor bathroom, barricaded it and plotted my strategy for the afternoon.

I had four periods left- English, Math, and two periods of Art. Art I could handle, but English and Math were beyond my control. So, with two minutes of lunchtime left, I went to the nurses' office.

She was reading a romance novel when I got there, so I figured it would be relatively easy to fake sick. "Ummm, Arai-sensei, I have a headache." She eyed me sharply, but the allure of her novel was too great for her to really pay attention, and nodded over to a row of cots. "Go lay over there until you feel better."

I closed the curtains around me and lay down on the cot. "Seriously? She let him touch her?" "That's what they're saying. That Rima Mashiro has always been a bitch; you should have met her in elementary school. Everyone hated her until Hinamori-san became her friend, and since she ditched Hinamori, no one wants to go near her anymore." "So the Fujisaki kid was just trying to help her?" "Supposedly, he likes her or she was leading him on and so Nobuhana got jealous and that's why they decided to fight him." "Woah, I never knew. I mean, who would have thought such a midget would be whoring herself out to all those guys…"

The lunch bell rang and the voices from the curtain next to me stopped. I couldn't stop shaking. What was that? What was I hearing? My ears had to be deceiving me, there was no way what I heard could have been believed. Fujisaki's words pounded in my head like a tidal wave, and I couldn't stop thinking and replaying them over in my head.

'_How long has it taken you to realize it? Those feelings, they're not schoolboy crushes anymore! They're teenage men, Rima, they don't even think twice about stuff like that! They were saying stuff, awful stuff, about you Rima. The stuff they were saying, I couldn't take it, I was furious, I suddenly couldn't control myself…'_

My breathing became labored. Had Fujisaki been telling the truth? It wasn't possible. There was no way that what I had just heard was true, I was probably hallucinating because I hadn't eaten lunch, this couldn't be, it was not possible…

I don't know how long I was in the nurses' office. By the time the dismissal bell rang, I was still lying on my cot in a fetal position, my fists clenched and my head pounding. There was no way any of this was possible. The sound of the bell knocked some sense into me. _Amu. _I needed to find her, to have her explain to me, to have her help me right now that I felt so angry and lonely and weak. I tore out of the office, out past the double doors and anywhere. I had to fend her.

I ignored the pointing, the whispering and the stares. I had to find Amu. Finally, I spotted a flash of pink. Running around the corner of the school, a hand grabbed my arm and pushed me into a secluded corner of the school building. "Amu, what the hell is going on?" I questioned furiously.

"What's going on? What's going on? How the hell you get so retarded I don't know. Seriously, if I had any sense now I would have fed you to sharks by now. You're a damn hypocrite, that's what's going on." Amu's words were hard and cutting

I stared at her. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm totally lost here, Amu."

Amu's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you mental? Please tell me that you're joking, Rima, it would be an insult to me that I have such a bad taste in friends."

"God, what's your problem? Why are you so angry? I skipped yesterday because I was sick, and I come back and everyone has turned on me, like some bad movie, and you're not explaining anything-"

"You were sick? You were _sick?_ Do you think I'm going to believe that load of bull? You are such a bitch, Rima."

I stared at this weird warped Amu. I had to be imagining things; this was not my best friend.

"What are you? You're the bitch! A real best friend would never act this way."

"A real best friend would have told me the truth! How- how could you? After all I've done for you! How could you do that? You made out with Tadase behind my back and you act all innocent? Nagi's an idiot, he sould have never defended you-"

"When did I make out with Tadase? Who told you that shit? And why the hell would you believe them? Are you seriously that shallow?"

"You've made out with half the guys in this school and you accuse me of being shallow? How could you, Rima? With the guy that I liked? I tried to defend you before I saw the pictures, I can't believe you, Azami was right about you-"

"Pictures? I never made out with Tadase in my life before! I've never made out with anyone before! You would believe Azami? That whore tried to ruin me ever since she transferred last year, and you side with her? What the f-"

Amu's hand came down swiftly on my cheek. She struck me so hard that I staggered backwards and into the wall.

"You have no right to call anyone a whore! Azami is actually nice! You're a liar, you skipped yesterday and hung out with Yaya! After the fight I tried to contact you! Did I get a call? A message? Anything? No! You never told me anything, I never heard from you after that! I was frantic, trying to find you, and you disappeared! Nagi was freaking out, I've never seen him like that before, you have no idea-"

"Fujisaki's not important!" I yelled at her.

Amu got right in my face and screamed "He is too important! Believe it or not, he actually is paying for trying to defend your sorry ass! Right now, he's outside, working in the flowerbeds, but you wouldn't care, of course not, Rima, because you are a self righteous selfish bitch! You hide behind everyone, hang on to any excuse, but the truth is, as a person you suck! Go to hell!"

Amu pushed me back onto the pavement. She ran around the corner. I tried to call her back, tried to chase after her, but I couldn't, I was shaking too hard. Her comments had hit home. I had nothing. Without anyone, I couldn't do anything. I was completely useless, dependent on everyone. I was needy. I collapsed onto the ground. What was I going to do? Rapidly, the anger and wall of hate towards Amu and Fujisaki was melting. I knew right then what made me weak and afraid. It wasn't Amu, it wasn't my parents, it wasn't my kidnapping or Fujisaki. All this time, what had been holding me back was me.

The shock radiated through me, but in a way, it all made sense. I hid behind masks, people, excuses, trying to avoid the world. After I had joined the guardians, some of it had faded, but even so- after Kusukusu had gone, I had felt lost and lonely again. Immediately, I knew why I had enjoyed yesterday so much- it was like my family was complete again, like Yaya was Kusukusu, making me laugh and cheering me up. What was wrong with me? Had I been totally wrong about everything this whole time? All this time, after I was kidnapped, I had spent all this time trying to protect myself, but never how to defend myself. If I were stronger, I could have confronted the girls in the nurses' office. If I were stronger, I could do things for Amu, instead of being a burden to her. If I were stronger, I could maybe even be friends with Fujisaki and-

Oh my god. Fujisaki. I needed to find him! The sun was sinking, and shadows growing fast, but I had to find him. In my mind there was a bizarre idea that if I found him, everything would be ok. I needed to find him, even though I didn't know why, but he would help me, I know he would, because right now, I needed him, in some inexplicable way…

My feet pounded against the pavement as I passed the school building. The flowerbeds couldn't be too far away, maybe only three minutes left, for I was passing the greenhouse now-

A figure suddenly blocked the pathway to the flowerbeds. Fujisaki! I had finally caught up! "Fuji-,"

It wasn't Fujisaki. It wasn't Amu. It wasn't anyone I knew. It was a boy, badly bruised, who was blocking my path. "Sorry," I said. "I thought you were someone else."

"It's ok," he smiled."I knew it was you. We've been waiting for you, Rima-sama."

"We?" I asked, confused. Out of the shadows stepped a group of four boys. Kirishima was among them. Quickly, they surrounded me. "What is the meaning of this?" I tried to make my voice sound big and dignified, but it squeaked slightly. Kirishima smiled in a creepy way. The other boys followed suit.

"Rima, Rima," he said softly, circling me. "Do you really think we're still your slaves? We outgrew that, long ago, though maybe you didn't notice. We noticed you though, and my, have you grown." His hand traced my jaw line.

I began to panic. My heart was pounding wildly and I clenched my fists tight. "Get away from me," I slapped his hand away.

"Naughty girl, Rima." He said silkily. "Be careful who you mess with these days. You never know what might happen." He nodded, and suddenly, my arms were grabbed from behind me as I was lifted up about a foot in the air.

"You can't do this!" I yelled, terrified.

"No one's around, Rima dear. We can do anything we want, can't we?" The ex fan boys nodded in swift agreement, ghoulish smiles on their faces.

"So, Rima-chan, tonight we begin the fun we've waited for for years." He began stroking my side. "Get off!" I tried kicking. "My, what nice legs you have Rima. Don't worry, boys, we'll all enjoy them."

He began to fumble with my uniform shirt, trying to untie the bow. "By the way, Rima, this is payback for the letter.

"Letter?"

"Yes, the one you so kindly ignored. You did the same thing in the sixth grade too- I was so stupid back then, I should have taken action sooner. Ah, well, it'll be funner now, now that I understand this." The bow gave way, and he began to try and unbutton my shirt. "Get off of me!" I screamed, kicking madly. "Help!" I called out desperately. "HELP!"

"Rima, no one's here," Kirishima came close to my face. Perfect! I kneed him in the stomach. He doubled over and looked up. "That wasn't very nice, Rima," he said nastily. "Yeah," they all echoed, and began closing in.

This wasn't happening; this had to be a dream. A nightmare, a figment of my imagination. I felt the tears well up in my eyes and stream down my cheeks. "Help!" I called out. "Help! Fujisaki, help! Fujisaki! Fujisaki! NAGIHIKOOO!"

**Heyy, it's Alice! :)**

**I'm so sorry for the late upload! I sent out the chapter to be beta-ed really late because my internet went out and my mom wanted to take me to the beach, where it was raining, typhoon style. T.T**

**So anyway, I know that this chapter is all dark and stuffles, but don't worry, it'll lighten up later! Ri-chan just has some issues she needs to work out.**

**The nickname Ri-chan came from this really funny fanfic that I read once but I forgot it's name. It was about the SC cast going on a reality show, where Rima and Ikuto are paired up as a couple and Ikuto nicknames her Ri-chan.**

**Eternal thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you guys so uber much! Special thanks so LizzieGLee12, because she is an awesome beta and an awesome person! I'll try to finish the new chapter ASAP!**

** ~Alice**


	5. Recovery

_This wasn't happening; this had to be a dream. A nightmare, a figment of my imagination. I felt the tears well up in my eyes and stream down my cheeks. "Help!" I called out. "Help! Fujisaki, help! Fujisaki! Fujisaki! NAGIHIKOOO!"_

The third button of my shirt was unbuttoned and my shoes had fallen off. I was shaking and felt faint. The faces around me were blurring, and the sky was darkening with promises of rain. "Let me go," I whimpered, shaking. Kirishima smiled darkly. "Patience, Rima, dear. You forget that we've waited years for this."

They all chuckled. My head was floating, I was blacking out_. Concentrate, Rima!_ I screamed at myself. I needed to get out of there! But I couldn't move; I was numb. The sky rumbled as memories were flashing through my mind. I remembered the day I was kidnapped, the smiles on the men's faces, the frightening darkness of the van they threw me in, and how I sobbed, wishing I wasn't so weak, praying for strength, hoping that someone, anyone, would come and help me, find me, save me-

"Get on with it! Haven't we waited for this? Hurry up!" Kirishima yelled, "Hurry!" A raindrop struck my cheek. "STOP IT!" I screamed, and suddenly, my mind was blurred with a torrent of memories. People, places, things I loved, I thought of them all. Amu's smiling face passed through my mind, stabbing my heart with the bitter feeling of betrayal. I thought of my mother, of my father, of Yaya and her secret, and then, inexplicably, of Fujisaki, and his gorgeous, honey colored eyes, the way he smiled, his jacket, and how it smelled like sakura blossoms and oranges and mint-

My head felt like it would explode. Fujisaki's face was burned in my mind for some reason, the intensity with which he had looked at me when he was angry- I was wrong to be angry with him. The rain was pouring now, soaking me.

My left stocking began to slide down, jerking me into alertness. "Stop!" I screamed, kicking furiously. "Let go of me! Get off of me!" I began writhing and trying to get away. The boy holding me chuckled. "You won't be able to stop us, Rima-sama," he whispered in my ear, "it's only a matter of time before- oof!"

I kicked him in the stomach. He released me, and I collapsed onto the ground, my hair sticking to my face. I tried to crawl away, but my body was in lock-down mode, I couldn't move. The boys stopped, afraid of what was happening.

They looked unsure of what to do with me, since I had gone limp a long time ago. "Hang on," whispered a fan boy, "I think she fainted." The rain was drenching us, my mind was blanking out. I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't. In my mind, I was playing back my fight with Fujisaki, all the horrible things I had said; everything I had ever done to him. "Nagihiko," I mumbled, white spots dancing behind my eyes. He had smiled and told me to call him Nagihiko. "She said something!" The fan boys clustered around me. "Nagihiko," I whispered again, imagining his smile. A burst of emotion ran through me, scalding my body and making me scream. "_NAGIHIKO!_" The sky flashed with lightening. My head went light, and suddenly, I couldn't see. I think that's when I fainted.

When I woke up, I was in my bed, wearing pajamas. Had it all been a dream? Looking over at my clock, it was 12:15. PM? No way. Wait, what had just happened? I sat up in bed and immediately felt dizzy. Using my bedposts as support, I pushed myself out of bed and looked at myself in the mirror.

I screamed so loud that my mother came bolting up the stairs. "Ri-chan!" she cried, flinging my door open. She enveloped me in an enormous hug. "You're awake," she sobbed into my head. "Mom," I said weakly, "what happened?" She pulled back and looked at me. "Don't you remember, Ri-chan? Some boys attacked you at school." My stomach fell. "It wasn't a dream?" I mumbled to myself. I suddenly felt cold and sank to the floor. Oh my God. "Do you know what happened?" I whispered. "Oh, honey, I was so worried, but it's ok. Your friend saved you." My head shot up. "What friend?" "Your friend, sweetie, that boy with the long hair. What was his name? Nade- Nege- Negi-" "Nagihiko." I whispered. "Oh, yes, that boy! He's very friendly. He carried you here. I was so worried, Ri-chan, it was raining and you hadn't come home yet, and then the doorbell rang and when I opened it he was there, he had been carrying you the whole time. He didn't want to leave you; he left around five in the morning. You had a fever and were screaming stuff all night, we were so scared, but then I went downstairs to nap for a bit and when I woke up you were quiet and much better." "You left me alone, in my room, with a boy?" I asked, dumbstruck. "Oh, don't be that way, Ri-chan, he's so nice!" My mother was sounding like Amu. _Amu. _"Mama," I asked quietly, "has Amu been here?" "Of course, Ri-chan! She was here earlier today. Nagi-kun called all of your friends and they all stopped by this morning." "Oh," was all I said. Amu had stopped by. She was worried about me! Maybe she felt bad and wanted to apologize for everything she said. Her words still were burned brightly in my brain, confusing me to no end. When had I made out with Tadase? What pictures?

I looked in the mirror and almost screamed again. I remembered why I had panicked, and I felt a tight knot form in my stomach as I looked at myself in the mirror.

My skin was pale, sure, and I had a few bruises; I had red eyes and I looked even smaller than usual. But the thing that had startled me, what had made me freak out and consider fainting again wasn't any of those. It was my hair.

My hair, which had been so long it almost reached my calves, had been cut. A good five inches had been chopped off, and it now hung to my thighs. "No way-" I mumbled to myself. Turning to my mother, I squeaked out. "Wh-who- why- m-my hair!" I pointed to my reflection in the mirror. "Oh, that." My mom waved her hand airily. "We had to cut it, Ri-chan, you had an enormous knot and since you were running a fever we didn't want to stick you in the bath. We had to cut it." I stared. It didn't look too bad, but still. "I've always had long hair!" "It's still long, Ri-chan," my mom pointed out. "It's just… shorter." I sighed. Worse things could have happened, I supposed, and although the fever I had wasn't a trivial thing, I came out ok. Playing with my hair, I asked my mother without looking her in the eyes. "What was I saying in my sleep?"

"You were screaming stuff, sweetie, you kept saying 'Kusukusu' and some other things I didn't understand. At one point you started begging to be forgiven or something, but like I said, you eventually stopped."

"Oh," was all I could manage. "I'm making curry rice, Ri-chan. Do you want some?" I stumbled back to my bed. "Maybe later. I kind of want to go back to bed now." "Ok, Ri-chan," she began tucking me in, "I'll be downstairs if you need anything. I'll come check up on you later." "Ok." The door clicked shut and I stared into space. Everything was so dang confusing! I chucked my pillow at the mirror and buried under the covers.

I couldn't remember anything since the moment I fainted, only emotions. I recalled fear and anxiety, and, for some reason, warmth and peace. It was an odd mixture of feelings to have. I thought about Amu, and how she said I betrayed her, and seeing some picture- what was she talking about. Nothing made sense anymore; I was so confused as I rolled over in my bed, staring at the ceiling. I sighed and tried to sleep.

An hour later, I still wasn't asleep. I sighed again and figured that it would just be better to go downstairs. The scent of curry rice was wafting over from the kitchen. I wandered in, where my mother promptly glomped me, threw me into a chair and stuck an enormous bowl of food in front of me. I hadn't realized before, but I was starving. I ate everything and even had a second helping. "This is wonderful, Ri-chan! Maybe you'll finally get a growth spurt!" Mama squealed. "Mama's so excited that she must go shopping! I'll get you a new gag manga!" Spending time with Yaya was rubbing off on Mama, I noticed wryly as I helped myself to a third helping of rice.

After eating, I felt much better, so I decided to have a bath. It was boiling hot, the way I like it. I lowered myself into the water, leaned back, and breathed in deeply. I had several small bruises; no doubt I had gotten them when I tried to get away. Nothing had happened, I was fine. Nagihiko had saved me. "Nagihiko," I whispered as I lowered myself further into the water. Immediately I shot back up again. It was stupid, ridiculous even, that my cheeks were tuning pink. _Get a grip! _I yelled at myself. I sank deep into the water again. What was I supposed to do? The one person I was sure I despised, the person I treated the worst, had saved me, despite my having yelled at him and gotten him in trouble.

"_Nagi's an idiot, he should have never defended you! … Believe it or not, he's actually paying for trying to defend your sorry ass! Right now, he's outside, working in the flowerbeds, but you wouldn't care, of course not, Rima, because you are a self righteous selfish-"_

I shook my head at the memory. Nagi had defended me, and he had gotten punished. Nagi had defended me even when I had hurt him. How low had I sunk? "What kind of a person are you, Mashiro Rima?" I asked myself out loud. "Amu was right about you." I whispered. I wondered if Amu had really been worried, and how she had felt when she found out I was sick. Did she really come visit today? I felt sick with sadness. I wished I could be stronger like Amu, able to do what I wanted without having to manipulate people. Wincing at the slight pain in my right arm, I reached for the shampoo.

Baths have miraculous effects. I'm not kidding. As I came out of the bath (which felt like the first time in forever), I was even smiling. The clock now read 2:57. I dressed and curled up in bed with my new gag manga.

I was on a really good part when the doorbell rang. I was about to call "Mama, can you get that?" when I heard the door open, a chatter of voices, and the pattering of feet downstairs. Mama yelled something, which brought on a dead quiet. I sat up, almost frightened, when suddenly I heard a shriek and several pairs of footsteps running up the stairs. My door was suddenly yanked open, and there was Nagihiko, standing in my room. For the briefest second, our eyes met. He was panting, his eyes wide with shock. "Nagihiko," I breathed.

I'm not quite sure how he did it, but I blinked and suddenly he was in front of me, hugging me. I was dimly aware of other people spilling into the room as Nagihiko hugged the wind out of me. I couldn't breathe. I don't think anyone had ever hugged me with such force before. I was almost lifted out of my bed, I swear. I felt his fists curl into my back as he buried his face in my hair. "I thought- I was afraid- thank God-" his voice trailed off, hugging me closer.

I was able to see my friends a bit. They were all there- Kairi, Yaya, Kukai, Utau, Tadase, and Amu. _Amu. _She was looking away, out the window. Yaya was taking pictures, Tadase and Kairi were shifting uncomfortably, and Utau and Kukai were smirking. They seemed to be resisting the urge to laugh. I didn't even need to see their expressions to know my face was bright red. "Hi, guys," I managed. "Uhhh…" was the only reply I got back.

Nagihiko finally released me and stumbled back. By now, everyone was staring, as though they weren't quite sure what to make of it. "So-" I began.

At that moment, Amu flung herself on me so hard that my head was knocked into the bedposts. She started sobbing, wailing, bawling about what a miserable friend she was. "I WAS A FOOL!" she roared into my ears, leaving me practically deaf. "I'M SO SORRY!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, "PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I WILL DO PENANCE FOR MY EVIL DEEDSSSSSSSSSSSS!" And then she started crying again. Then Yaya came over and glomped me and started wailing along with Amu, only Yaya was yelling random things that had nothing whatsoever to do with anything. "YAYA ALSO FELL OFF THE DIET WAGON AND ATE A WHOLE BOX OF WAFFLES BY HERSELF AND SHE HOPES YOU'LL FORGIVE HER-" "-SHOULD HAVE NEVER SAID THOSED DIGUSTING, HORRIBLE THINGS-" "-FORGOT TO WEAR CLEAN SOCKS WHILE RUNNING-" "-AM NOT WORTHY OF BEING YOUR FRIEND-" "-ALSO PIGGED OUT DURING LUNCH-" "-WAS INCREDIBLY WORRIED-"

"JESUS CHRIST, SHUT THE HELL UP!" We all turned and gaped at Kairi, who had clenched his fists and was staring at us. Next to me, Yaya slunk under my bed. Kairi quickly cleared his throat looked away in embarrassment. Kukai and Utau were cracking up in the corner. Utau walked over and ruffled Kairi's hair. "Calm down, Sanjo," she said. "I hope I don't have to get you drunk so you can breathe again. That reminds me, tell your sister that the bartender's starting to get angry about her running a tab." "V-very well," Kairi said formally. "I shall." The tension now broken, my friends swarmed me, talking and giving me gifts. No one, I noticed, asked anything about my attack.

Ah, gifts. Tadase gave me a get well card, which was cool. He also gave me my homework, which I threw at my desk, mumbling my thanks. I then opened Yaya's gift, which was- chocolate. And cake. And cookies. And candy. "How much did you shell out to buy all this, Yaya?" Amu asked incredulously. "Oh, not too much. The baker at SweetCakes knows Yaya, and sometimes he gives her food." "Wow," I raised my eyebrows. "Thanks Yaya," I hugged her. "Mine next!" Amu shoved a box in front of me. I ripped off the paper and opened the box.

It was stuffed with gag manga, which was cool, but it wasn't the most important thing. Placed carefully on top of all the manga was a small figurine of a straight haired, blond girl with amber eyes, who looked just like-

"Kusukusu" Amu told me. "I thought it looked like her, so I bought it." Wordlessly, I was a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Discreetly trying to wipe them away, I smiled. "Thanks, Amu," I whispered as I reached up to hug her. She smiled and hugged me tight.

Kairi gave me book on samurai fighting techniques, Utau and Kukai gave me- "What is this?" I asked, holding up the box. "It's a Furby!" Utau explained. "See, it moves and talks in Furbish." "Furbish? Really?" Kukai retreated to a corner, laughing his ass off. "Sh-she picked it out," he gasped out. "It's damn fugly," I said, pressing a random button on the Furby. "Huia!" the Furby yelled. "Ni tai ka!" "What's it saying?" Amu asked, disturbed. "I have no idea." Replied Utau. "I bought it on Ikuto's advice." "NOH LA!" yelled the Furby. "Open the closet, will you, Kairi?" I asked as the Furby began to wiggle. Taking aim, I raised it above my head and threw it inside. "Woobye! Noooo!"

"Won't it shut the hell up?" Ikuto called in from the window. Tadase blanched, Amu flushed, and Utau yelled out "Onii-chan! Do you know how to turn the Furby off?" "No idea," he replied cooly, sliding in from the window to my room. "I made mine shut up by leaving it in the bathtub for four hours. Mom got so mad that I had ruined Grandma's Christmas present that she grounded me for a week." We all snorted except for Tadase, who was trying to calm himself down by muttering under his breath, "I am king. No one can take that away from me. I am king, No one can take that away from me." "BOHBAY!" Screeched the Furby from inside the closet.

So half an hour later, we had trundled down the stairs. Mama and Yaya were going crazy in the kitchen, Kukai, Ikuto, and Utau were trying to dissect the Furby, and Tadase was still sulking in a corner. Nagihiko and Kairi were checking out the movies we had, which was perfect, because it left me with Amu. "We have to talk," I told her, as I pulled open the sliding door to the backyard. She didn't say anything, just nodded her head and followed me out.

"What were you talking about yesterday?" I asked. "What was going on? I still don't know."

Amu blushed and looked away. "I-it's not important anymore, really, but you should know- it's kind of complicated. After the fight, you disappeared and I tried to find you but you never answered my texts or anything, and when you missed on Tuesday, the day after the fight, everyone was saying that you had gotten expelled, and we all tried to ask Nagi about it but he wouldn't say anything, and it was a mess. Then Saaya came in and said that Kirishima was hers, and then Azami stood up and started telling us all that you had started the fight, or that the fan boys had fought Nagi because you were flirting with them, and she started talking trash about you, then all the boys started saying stuff, and it was a mess, and I-I'm sorry I ever believed them!" Amu's eyes glistened with tears. "I was so worried, and I was angry that you hadn't answered me, then someone said that they got a text saying that you had skipped school to hang out with Yaya, and I got jealous, and then Azami showed me some photos-" she screwed up her face, and I flinched, expecting another vocal wail of sorrow. Instead, she looked down at her knees.  
>"Rima," she asked quietly, "did you really kiss Tadase?"<p>

"What?" I blurted out. "Seriously? I swear, I have never done that- I would never do that!" "I know," she whispered, "but Azami has these photos, and I had no idea- I mean, the girl in the picture is blond-" "Do you have the picture with you?" I asked curiously. "N-no," she admitted. "Hmm," I was thoughtful. "Come inside. We have some evil scheming to do." I grinned at her. She looked taken aback, but then she broke out into a smile. "Ok!"

Inside, clustered around the kitchen table, I listened to the different accounts of how my reputation was being destroyed at school. "- and some guys on the soccer team swear that they got you drunk once." Kukai finished. "I see," I murmured. "So let me get this straight- Azami turned all the girls against me by turning you against me. All the guys then proceeded to destroy my reputation with ridiculous claims of- yeah, ok. WHAT THE HELL?"

"What we need," Yaya stated, pulling a white board out of nowhere and setting it up in my kitchen, "is a battle plan. The damage in the middle school campus is minimal; due to the fact that yesterday was the field trip. But the high school campus shouldn't be too difficult, because we're so popular. Don't start, Tadase-kun, because its true and you know it!" Yaya flapped her arms hysterically and somehow summoned a pointed and a marker. "Now, the high school has around 600 kids, right? So we will divide them up. There are 4 of us who we can use, hmmmm," she squinted at us. "Ok, this will be hard. Rima-tan, you're out of the picture because this is your reputation we have to save. Nagi, you can't do much either, because the fan boys still hate your guts and want to see you dead. Ok, we'll do this. First, we have to establish the fact that Amu is still friends with Rima-tan. Utan, we need you for this."

"Why do I have to do anything? I'm not in high school anymore."

"But you're still an idol. Don't you have that new CD you're working on coming out soon? We need you for that. Amu-chi, do you still have Sakurai Yua's number? I'm sure she'd help if you asked her." The plan slowly gathered. Most of it was cool, but it would be boring for me, because I never got to do anything. All I had to do was stick close to Amu and avoid boys, period. I yawned as Amu put Yua on speakerphone, causing sparkles to pop out of Yaya's eyes as she explained our dilemma.

I had to pee. I pushed back my chair and headed to the bathroom. The doubt that had been easy to push back in the bright light of the kitchen suddenly rose up in the relative dimness of the hallway. I suddenly needed fresh air.

I opened the back door and turned around, bumping straight into- something. "Nagihiko?" I whispered. "Hmm?" He turned around but didn't look at me. "What are you doing out here?" I asked. "Thinking." was his reply.

"Oh."

I could think of nothing better to say. It was embarrassing, not having anything to do or say. It dawned on me that we were outside alone. I blushed, remembering the hug. "I'm sorry," I said in a small voice, my head bowed. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry," I said in a clearer voice. I sighed. "I'm sorry I said those things before." I added in a mumble.

I felt Nagi's gaze scorching me. The blush in my cheeks wouldn't fade, and I stared at my feet, not quite knowing what to do. "Rima," he began quietly, but I cut him off. "I had no idea," I told him. "I was in denial. Forgive me." "Rima," he began again, "do you remember anything from last night? After you fainted?" "N-no," I felt the blush on my cheeks deepen. "Why?" "Never mind," he said dismissively. Aggravatingly. "Well, I'm going back inside now," I said. "Rima," Nagihiko's voice had suddenly become urgent. "Yes?" I asked quietly. "I'm glad you're calling me Nagihiko," he grinned, crossing his hands behind his head. My heart skipped a beat. "Hey! You said I could!" "I know," he grinned even wider. "But that means that now, I can call you Ri-chan."

**Hello~!**

**I'm SO, SO, SO, SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I was being lazy again and stuffles :( Please forgive me!**

**So to get insiration for the fluff parts of my story, I went and googled 'Rimahiko' and 'Rima and Nagi'. I found a bunch of cute pictures and felt inspired and continued writing. :D**

**Thanks to everyone who reads this, reviews it, favorite stories it, story alerts it or favorite authors me. You guys make me so happy~!**

** ~Alice**


	6. The Plan

The meeting in my house dispersed at around 9 o'clock. Mama had fallen asleep long ago. By the time the meeting ended, the house was trashed, the fridge was empty, and our plan was formulated. I had to hand it to Yaya; she was good at organizing evil schemes. By the time she had finished illustrating the various stages of the plan, explaining in detail what we would do and pointing out our "battle places", even Kairi was impressed. "And then we'll put on a music fest to appease the bloodthirsty," she concluded emphatically. "That's about it. Any questions?" "I have one," I said. "Who here has seen the picture of me supposedly kissing Tadase?"

Everyone averted their eyes shyly as they raised their hands. "Ok," I said. "Who has a copy of the picture with them right now?" Yaya's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Whipping a Blackberry out of her pocket, she began to type furiously. "Yaya?"

"Shut up and wait a second," Yaya's eyes gleamed demonically as she stared at the screen. Finally, her phone beeped. "Give Yaya your laptop, Kairi."

"M-my laptop?" Kairi asked, holding his briefcase protectively.

"Yes," Yaya clicked her fingers impatiently. "Hurry up!"

Trembling, Kairi handed Yaya his briefcase. We all waited a few moments as Yaya began to work on the computer.

"Ummm, Yaya?"

"Hush, it's almost ready!" Yaya whispered. "Yaya's been spending a lot of time on the internet recently. She's picked up several abilities from friends online lately." We all sweatdropped. I swear Yaya is bipolar or something and probably friended all these online creepers.

"Got it!" she yelled triumphantly. "Got what?" Utau asked.

"Yaya hacked Azumi's email and retrieved the photo." Yaya said angelically, holding up the laptop so we could all see. "Here's the photo," she smiled, looking pleased. "Wha- no!" Tadase yelled, reaching towards the computer, but Kukai pushed him back.

The picture was bad quality. It was slightly blurred and had a grainy sort of color. I peered at the screen for about ten seconds before turning away. "It's not me," I said, crossing my arms. Amu smiled skeptically and said "We all know it's not, Rima, but how are we going to prove-"

"Can't you tell just by looking?" I asked.

"N-no…" Amu began to stutter. "I-I mean, ah…"

"You can't tell?" I felt my face begin to heat up. I looked around the kitchen. "Anyone? Can anyone tell?"

Tsukiyomi grinned. "Hey, kiddy king," he told Tadase, "go stand next to the shrimp."

"Wh-what?" Tadase said, now turning bright red. "Why would I- that is, I mean, I'm not in that picture! It's not me!" He squeaked. "Go stand next to Mashiro, then," pressed Kukai. "Hurry up!" Yanking Tadase out of his seat, Kukai threw him so that he crashed into the sink.

I went over to Tadase and stood next to him, glowering. Punching Tadase in the back, I yelled "Stand up straight!" "Ah," Tadase sounded like a girl. Sighing, now probably the color of a tomato, I stood next to him, bangs hiding my eyes.

"Look at the picture," I instructed. "And then look at me." They all obeyed. Yaya looked back and forth. "Yaya doesn't get it," she finally said. Utau, on the other hand, broke out an evil Tsukiyomi grin. "Seriously? Doesn't everyone see it?"

Everyone stared at me. A dark, gloomy aura was creeping out from me, but it was nothing compared to the emo clouds now hanging over Tadase's head. "Hi-Hinamori-san! I swear I am not in the picture! I'm not, I-"

"Oh, shut up, Kiddy king. Unless this is a yuri makeout picture, what other self respecting boy would style his hair like that?"

"It's true," Kairi nodded. "It's very obvious that it is you, King. But I still don't see- oh."

"I see it now," Amu whispered.

"Yaya does too."

Utau, Kukai, Ikuto and Nagihiko started laughing. "It's not funny!" I yelled, flailing my arms. "It is _not _funny!"

"It is," Utau countered back, tearing up from so much laughter. "Oh my gosh, who would have thought?" She cackled. "This is hilarious!" I gritted my teeth.

"Mashiro-san?" Tadase's girly voice whispered. "What are they laughing at?"

I grabbed the laptop and practically shoved it in his face. "Look at the girl in the picture," I said to him. "Now look at me."

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, honestly!" I yelled. "Are you going to make me humiliate myself? Geez, look at the stupid picture! Now look back at me! The girl in the picture has to be-" I flushed and began to mumble. "The girl in the picture is way taller than me."

All my friends howled with laughter. "It's even funnier when she admits it," Kukai laughed. Amu wiped her eyes and said, "I have no idea how I didn't notice it immediately. That chick has got to have at least five inches on you."

The dark aura began to grow as I seethed with frustration. While I was relieved that I had a way to prove my point, it was still humiliating. The girl in the picture went up to Tadase's forehead. I, on the other hand, barely came up to his chin.

Yaya then asked a blessed question that- thankfully- made my so called friends stop laughing. "If it isn't Rima in the picture," she asked, "then who is it?"

Silence quickly descended upon us as we thought back to it. Tadase was now flaming red. "Lu-Lulu-chan," he mumbled miserably.

"That psycho French bitch?" Utau's eyebrows traveled up her forehead. "Wow."

Kukai gaped. "I didn't know he had it in him," he mumbled to Fuj- Nagihiko, who was stifling laughter.

Kairi clucked his tongue in a superior manner, while Yaya videotaped the confession.

"Lulu?" Amu's eyes widened as she flushed slightly. "Oh," she said in a frigid voice, "I see."

"I-it's not like that!" Tadase wailed. "She kissed me out of the blue! I had no idea what was going on!" ("Yeah, right," Ikuto hissed)

"Seriously," I huffed, looking at the picture, "I'm offended you would confuse me with her. It'll be a cold day in hell before I wear my hair like that."

Amu looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, Rima, I really am!"

"It's ok," I said, closing my eyes, "but make sure you don't do it again." Turning to Yaya, I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the final question that had been burning in my brain all day. "Wh-what about the fanboys?"

I saw everyone around the table gulp. Quietly, Tadase said, "They won't be coming to school tomorrow."

"Why?" I blurted out faster than I had meant to.

"Well… uh… Fujisaki… uhm…." My eyes flickered over to Nagihiko.

Ikuto spoke up. "Let's just say that Easter took care of this problem. The teachers don't know."

I didn't speak. There really was nothing to say. Relief had washed over me, but I didn't trust my mouth with this situation. There was a pregnant silence, broken only by Yaya.

"Well, if there are no more questions, Yaya has to go home now," Yaya's things had miraculously disappeared and she was hoisting her schoolbag over her shoulder. "I'll be over bright and early tomorrow!" Kairi also stood and said, dignified, "Well, then, I too must depart," as he bowed himself out of the kitchen. "Yeah, it's late," Amu said. "I think we should all get going. We've cluttered up Rima's house long enough." She began packing up her things. Tadase's emo clouds still hung low over his face as he mumbled a few incoherent things and began to leave. The Tsukiyomi's and Kukai then left.

I began to clean up the mess in the kitchen, trying to ignore the distracting presence behind me. The scent of cherry blossoms, oranges and mint were mixing together in an amazing way, distracting me to no end. I flushed as I began to wash the dirty dishes. "Hey, Rima," Fuji-Nagihiko (grrrrr) spoke. What the hell? Why was I trembling? What was wrong with me? My cheeks were a dark pink before I realized what was happening to me. Oh no.

I felt like sticking my head in the water filled sink to try and relax. Or at least cool my burning cheeks. How could I have missed this? And when the hell had this happened? When, in this stupid fanfiction, had I begun to have feelings for Nag-

"Rima?" He was right behind me, concerned. "Are you ok?"

Resisting the urge to scream and throw a soapy plate at his head, I began to hyperventilate. "Personal space!" I yelled. "I'm fine."

"I'm sure," he said sarcastically. "Well, as I was saying, do you still have my jacket?"

"Yeah," I said, attempting casualness. "Why?"

"Well, I kind of need it back."

"NO!" I yelled out, shocking the both of us. I covered my mouth with my hands. I had not meant to say that! Nagihiko chuckled nervously.

"I-I mean," I stuck my nose in the air, but my feelings crushed me and I ended up saying, "Do you really want it back?"

"Well, you see, Baaya the housekeeper kind of wanted to wash it, so…"

"Fine," I tried to place a neutral expression on my face. "It's in my room. I'll go get it."

To my surprise, Nagihiko followed me to my room. "You didn't have to come, you know," I told him. "My room is a mess."

He smiled and I almost had a fangirl spasm. "I like your room, Ri-chan," he stated casually. Holy shit! That's right! He had been in my room the previous night. Mama had said something about spending the whole night here…

"Hey, Nagi," I said as we walked down the short hallway. "What time did you leave yesterday?"

"I left this morning," he said, stifling a yawn. "Really?" I asked, my voice somewhat higher than usual. "What time did you leave?"

"I- I don't remember," he said. Somehow, he sounded flustered. I opened the door to my room and walked over to the closet.

It wasn't in the closet. Where had it last been? _Holy shit!_ I coloured at the memory of the last time I had it. The last time I remembered having seen the stupid jacket was in my bed. Oh no. _Act casual, act casual_, I coached myself while walking over to my bed. It was unmade, but from what I could see, the jacket wasn't there. I tried pushing back the futon.

"Need help, Ri-chan?" asked Nagihiko, looking up from my gag manga collection. "No." I tried to sound calm. Getting on my stomach, I crawled under the bed. I grumbled. The bed was really low, and I had to wiggle to move around in it. _Found it!_ As my fingers grasped the fabric of the jacket, I heard Fujisaki speak. "Are these pictures of you, Rima?" "What?" I quickly raised my head and promptly bumped it against the bottom of my bed. "OW!" I cried, trying to rub my head. For some reason, though, I couldn't move. _Uh oh. _"These pictures, the ones on your desk," he continued. "Uhhh… yeah, I think." I tried to move to no avail. This could be trouble.

Sucking in my breath, I tried to move and managed to wiggle. I held my breath and sucked in my stomach further, but I couldn't move. "Nnngg…" I grumbled. I heard footsteps move behind me. "Are you ok, Ri-chan?" Nagihiko asked. It sounded like he was getting on all fours. "I'm fine!" I tried to call to him, trying harder than ever to move. _Concentrate! _I told myself.

"Rima," Nagihiko's voice sounded closer now. I would have held my breath if I wasn't already.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I think you're stuck."

"Funny enough, I figured that out myself." I bit my lip. "Hey," I said nervously. "Can you- umm, can you help me get out?"

"Uhhhhhh…" Nagihiko said, and I knew what he was thinking.

"Just pull me out or something." I tried wiggling again. I was about half under the bed. My legs stuck out. I flushed at the thought of what he'd have to do but steeled myself for it. "Just... uh, grab my ankles and pull me out," I muttered.

He sort of gave a weak chuckle. "Re-really?"

I tried to kick him. "I'm being serious here! I wouldn't ask you to do this if I wasn't!"

"Are you sure?"

I kicked my legs again. "Just do it!"

"F-fine." His hands grabbed my ankles, his touch burning into my skin.

"But don't touch me anywhere else!" I added. He snickered.

"1, 2, 3!" He pulled and I felt myself beginning to slide out. "Ah!" I was almost out! My upper torso was still under the bed, though. I tried wriggling again to speed things up. Unfortunately, I got stuck again. Nagihiko pulled harder. After a few minutes of trying, he sighed. "This isn't working, Ri-chan," he said, dropping my ankles. "No, really?" I said sarcastically.

"Hmm," he said, getting to his feet by the sound of it. I heard him get back on the floor again, somewhere nearer to me now."I'm sorry, Rima-chan, but this is necessary," and suddenly, his arms wrapped around my waist. "What are you doing?" I tried kicking again. "Hold still, Rima," he said, tightening his grip on me. I stopped kicking, my face flaming. "Are you ready?" he asked? "Wait what?" I yelled, just as he gave a gigantic tug, making me fly out from under my bed and land on my back. "Oof," I grumbled, staring at the ceiling. My fingers were still wrapped around the cloth of the jacket, and right now, as I lay on my back, I became conscious that a pair of arms were still wrapped around my waist and I was-

Oh God. I was lying on top of Nagihiko. What the hell? I scrambled to get off, but the pair of arms still held me tight. "Na-Nagihiko…" I mumbled, but it seemed that he was ignoring me. "Hey, Nagihiko," I tried again. He still didn't move. I was starting to get ticked off at this. "Na-gi-hi-ko!" I yelled, turning around to face him. "Nagi- oh."

Nagihiko's eyes were closed, and his breaths were even and deep. I stared at him for a few minutes until it clicked. Oh my God. I had fallen on top of Nagihiko, pushing him to the floor at such a quick speed that- Dear Lord, I had knocked Nagihiko unconscious.

When you have just knocked a person unconscious, what do you do? If you're a murderer, you kill them right then and there and stash the body later. If you're a sensible, level headed person, you give the person medical treatment. I was neither, so my first reaction was to scream.

It's a miracle that my mother didn't wake up, because I don't know how I would have explained the situation at hand at that moment. My mind was forming barely coherent, frantic thoughts and ideas. I was hysterically thinking about slapping him, but then I looked into his face.

I had never fully appreciated his long, dark eyelashes before. Were they really that full? I leaned closer to his face. What kind of a boy had eyelashes like that? A million mascara caked girls would kill for those eyelashes. Those long eyelashes partially obscured dark, tired bags under his eyes. Had he not been sleeping enough? He probably hadn't slept at all the previous night. Timidly, I traced the bags under his eyes.

The full reality of this hit me. I had just knocked out a boy in my room, and instead of dumping cold water on him or something, I was admiring his face. What kind of a sicko pervert was I? I ran to the bathroom to get a wet towel.

I got back to my room and began to sponge his face, but he still wouldn't regain consciousness. What the hell? I felt the panic build up again. I glared at the jacket. "This is all your stupid fault," I fumed. I wanted to smack myself the moment I said that. I was talking to a _jacket_. Wow. I had reached a new level of pathetic. I breathed in and tried to focus on what to do with Nagihiko. I couldn't carry him home, one because I was too small and two because I had no idea how to explain to his family that I had (unintentionally!) knocked their son unconscious. Maybe I should try to reach Amu? I reached for my cell phone and began dialing her number when I heard it. Light, soft, breathing noises. _Wait what? _I looked at Nagihiko.

He was snoring. Oh my God, and I had almost had a brain hemorrhage because of this! I rolled my eyes and snapped my phone shut. Stomping to the bathroom, I found a cup, filled it with cold water, and went back to my bedroom. As I kneeled next to Nagihiko, I couldn't help but feel guilty. It should be a crime to wake up such a peaceful looking person, but it was necessary. Grabbing the jacket so it wouldn't get wet, I closed my eyes and dumped the water on Nagihiko.

He sat up and immediately began to cough and splutter. "What the-? What was that? What happened?" he gasped out. "Calm down! I'm sorry, but you wouldn't wake up! It's late, and you needed to go home!"

"What happened? Did I fall asleep?" I blushed. "S-sort of."

One look at my face and I could hear the gears in his brain start clicking. "You knocked me unconscious… pffffffffft…" "No, it's not like that! I didn't say, I mean, I didn't-" As I scrambled to regain my dignity, he got to his feet. "Sure, Rima-chan," he said, taking the jacket out of my hands. "AH! Wait!" I cried, reaching my hands up for it.

Nagihiko put the jacket on and then grabbed my hands in his own. "I'll give you the jacket back tomorrow, Ri-chan," he said.

"But-"

He leaned in close to my face, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. His face hovered a short distance away from me, and I felt my eyes go wide as I stared into his perfect face… I wondered vaguely about how I could hold a grudge against such a beautiful person for all these years…

"See you tomorrow, Ri-chan," he smiled, and suddenly, he was gone. I sat, frozen, as I heard the door downstairs open and close. _He was gone… _

I wandered about, dazed, getting ready for bed. What had just happened confirmed my hypothesis that I had thought up in the kitchen. I, Mashiro Rima, during some point of my messed up life, had fallen in love with Fujisaki Nagihiko.

….

!

What was I thinking? _Falling in love_ was a pretty loaded expression, right? More likely I had become infatuated with the long haired bishie, because I was absolutely certain that I would never be so foolish as to 'fall in love'. What kind of a twisted fanfic was this? I burrowed under my covers. Never in my life would I have ever suspected, ever dreamed of this. It was like a lightning bolt coming down from a clear sky, which is supposed to be impossible or something. I mean, he and I had nothing in common! I was a class slacker, he was the class rep, I was into comedy and he was into dance, which technically is both show business, but still! It made no sense.

I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. It was getting late and I should have been asleep, but instead, my brain was acting retarded, and I kept seeing Nagihiko's face in my mind. When had I started to fall for him? I didn't even want to remember. Groaning, I turned over in my bed and tried to concentrate on Yaya's plan. Dress nicely, she had said. Put a big bow in your hair. Go for the Lolita look! I began to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow, and in the middle of one of those mental relaxation exercises that you see on TV shows like Oprah, I finally fell asleep.

The following morning, I woke up extra early. Not because of my alarm clock, not because of a bird, but because some maniac had to go and start jumping on my bed, yelling "OHAYO RIMA-TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN~!" "Turn off your sparkles and go away, Yaya," I groaned, sliding deeper into the covers. "Mou, mou, Rima-chi," Yaya had gotten down and started shaking me. "Get up!" I know knew what it felt like to be stuck in an earthquake, what with Yaya's yelling and nonstop shaking me. Now Mama chimed in, "Ri-chan~! Your friend Amu is here! I'm leaving to work now, Ri-chan! See you later! (Mom works part time as a temp.)" "Amu," I asked, sitting up quickly. "Ohayo, Rima," Amu said, smiling. "Don't forget we're walking to school together today." Oh right. This was part of Yaya's plan. "You need to hurry, Rima-tan! Yaya didn't even go running today to help you!" I sighed and brushed the hair out of my eyes. "Fine."

"Yay~!" Yaya and Amu high-fived. "This is going to be so much fun, Rima-tan~!"

"Yeah, it'll be cool, Rima." Hahaha. Cool my ass.

"Ok," I consented. "Just let me get ready."

I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and hurried into my uniform. I raced back to my room, only to be glomped by both Amu and Yaya. I think Amu was trying to prove that she was a good friend, which she really is. I'm not angry at her on anything.

Yaya pushed me down onto a stool in front of my vanity, the one Papa sent me after the divorce. There was stuff on it, mostly homework and gag manga. The few cosmetics there were covered by a thin layer of dust. They stared at my vanity, then back at me. "Amu-chi," Yaya asked sweetly, cracking an evil grin, "can you get the makeup kit in my bag?" With one wild fling of her arm, she brushed off all the junk on my vanity.

Amu cracked a similar but somehow less malevolent evil grin. "Sure, Yaya," she said in an equally sweet, casual voice.

"Wait!" I yelled as the advanced towards me, brushes and wands and scary powders in hand.

"Charge!" yelled Yaya, and they both surrounded me. Thus the torture began.

I had to endure an _hour_ of getting my hair yanked and my face poked with some weird stuff. "Not too much, Yaya, we need her to look good and wholesome," Amu said, hugging me.

"What the hell are you guys trying to pull?" I asked, but I was ignored. Finally, finally, finally, Yaya yanked me to my feet.

"She's ready!" she cried triumphantly. I looked at myself in the mirror.

I looked EXACTLY. THE. SAME. "My butt went numb for this?" I cried. "I look the same! My hair does look nicer, though. Thanks, Amu." Amu smiled widely.

"No problem," she said. My hair was now much softer looking, and the waves even looked neat instead of messy. She had done a sort of half ponytail on me, but twisted the ponytail part into a bun. The usual ribbon adorned my head.

"Ok, Rima-tan," Yaya yelled. "We're ready to go! Hurry up now, everything is going to be A-OK!" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right," I muttered under my breath, but Yaya and Amu ignored me. We were in the downstairs hall now. I made to go into the kitchen, but Yaya grabbed the back of my uniform blazer.

"Hey!" I cried, trying to get loose. "What gives?"

"Rima-tan!" Yaya wailed, clutching me tighter. "There's no time to eat! We spent all the extra time getting you ready. Hurry up!"

"This wasn't part of the plan!" I was indignant.

"Yaya knows, but it was important! Hurry up! Nagi's waiting outside."

"Nagi?" My ears perked up and I was no longer hungry. This awful desire to run out and hug him hit me, but I tried to control myself and arrange my features into a disinterested look, but it didn't work. "We all know you're dying to run out and meet Nagi, Rima," Amu informed me in a whisper. "Let's race outside!" Yaya yelled. "Ready? 1, 2, 3!" and she flung the door out and bolted. "Wait up!" Amu and I scrambled out after her. At the end of my walkway, leaning against my mailbox, was Nagihiko. "Ohayo!" he called out, smiling. "I brought cinnamon rolls!" he held up the bag.

My animal instincts kicked in. I suddenly got a burst of speed from somewhere in my tiny body, and before I knew it; I was at my mailbox and had the bag in my hands. I even beat Yaya.

"Food~!" I cried gleefully as I bit into a cinnamon bun. Yaya was right behind me, and she tore voraciously at her own cinnamon bun. "Ohayo, Nagi!" Amu greeted with a smile. "Mhanyo," I said through a mouthful of sticky, sweet cinnamon. "Mrrphnnm!" Yaya cried, excitedly waving her arms. She swallowed and then glomped Nagi. "Thanks for the cinnamon buns!" She smiled, her face dirty. I quietly motioned to Amu, who sighed and began to wipe Yaya's face with a hankie. "Honestly, Yaya," she giggled. I smiled. This all felt like elementary school, when we were all little and had fewer worries…

"Thanks for the cinnamon rolls," I smiled up at Fujisaki. He looked startled, and then looked away as he cleared his throat. "It's nothing," he said, now smiling at me. "I figured you guys would be hungry."

Now we were just smiling at each other, and somehow, it was awkward and casual all at once, as though it should have been a normal thing to do, but it wasn't. My smile suddenly felt a little stiff. "Well, we're at the division point," Yaya said, having resumed her military commander character. She opened her backpack and began rifling through the contents. "Here," she said, handing Nagihiko a walkie talkie. "Your codename is (she opened a notebook and began scanning down a list) Purple Fan."

"Purple Fan?" Nagi asked uncertainly, as Amu and I sweatdropped.

"Purple Fan, SIR!" Yaya corrected. "I mean, ma'am. Yes, you are Sentai Purple Fan-san. ("Sentai?" I whispered to Amu, but she just shook her head.) Now, you must go, Purple Fan-san! Be off! Fly hither to thine home~!" Her eyes began to sparkle, but then she quickly shook her head. "Yaya should stop putting alcohol in her coffee," she mumbled to herself, but then quickly looked up at us, sparkles back in place. "Go, now, Purple Fan-san! It's your duty to protect Rima-tan!"

I flushed as Nagihiko gave us a dazzling smile. "I'll do my best," he smiled, and then he began to race down the block towards school. Yaya waved the dirty hankie in the air, pretending to cry. "Good bye, Purple Fan-san!" she called. "Good luck! If you get die in battle, don't forget that you did this for Rima-tan~!"

Amu giggled nervously. "You didn't plan anything dangerous, right Yaya?" Yaya smiled and gave us a thumbs up. "Don't worry!" she chirped. "All firearms and explosives will be handled personally by Yaya!"

Somehow, the sparkles didn't seem to reassure Amu, who clutched onto me somewhat hysterically. "Are you scared, Amu-chan?" I asked her, knowing the affect this would have on her. Sure enough, she straightened up and began to smooth her skirt. "Sc-scared? Me? No way. This'll be a piece of cake." She gulped and quietly added, "I hope."

As we neared the school building, Yaya suddenly stopped. "Here, Amu-chi~!" She called out happily, handing Amu a walkie talkie. "What am I supposed to do with this?" Amu asked, utterly nonplussed. "Report back to Yaya, of course!" Yaya grinned. "Yaya wants to know your statuses at all times, because it's uber important. Your codename is (she scanned down the list again) Pink X~!"

"Pink X?" Amu echoed back in disbelief. "Couldn't I have something cooler, like, I don't know, 'Black Rose' or something?"

"Nope," Yaya pouted. "Yaya made up all the names last night in her bedroom, and they all have a certain color, like all sentai mangas! Ikuto is already 'Black Cat' ("He has a normal name!" Amu interjected furiously), so you couldn't possibly be black. Utau-tan is 'Silver Butterfly', and Kukai is 'Green Jack'."

Amu wrinkled her nose. Feigning a causal air, she asked, "What's Tadase's name?"

Yaya smiled wickedly. "Rainbow Unicorn," she said in an offhanded tone. "Kairi is 'Aqua Samurai' and Yaya is 'Yellow Star'."

"What am I?" I asked curiously. Yaya's eyes gleamed. "Rima-tan is 'Orange Bow'!" I sweatdropped. _Orange bow? _Lameeeeeee.

"So, fellow Sentai," Yaya smiled widely at us, "to work!" And she ran ahead of us towards school.

Yaya's plan had been a simple one, but she kept revising it and fixing it. Basically, for 'Stage One', Amu and I had to walk together and basically be the best friends we were. 'Stage Two' was a big gathering of all the former Guardians during lunch, presumably to show off how awesome and 'tight' we were or whatever. What exactly 'Stage Three' was, no one knew, except that it was going to take place during P.E. A blessed relief.

So Amu and I walked up to the school gates, trying to pretend that we were normal and not about to break a bunch of school rules. As I saw the looming school building, I involuntarily gulped. Lots of thing could go wrong, lots of awful things could happen…

I tried to act cool and casual as Amu and I walked through the gates. Amu linked her arm in mine and attempted to smile at me. "It's going to be ok," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. I nodded. _Show time_, I thought, as we began to receive stares and whispers. I tried to ignore it all and concentrate on the school building. _Keep your cool, don't blow it,_ I reminded myself. _Everyone's doing this for you. Be strong. _I felt a wild impulse to laugh. Strong? Me? Not the slightest chance. Amu, on the other hand- I snuck a peek at her. She looked totally cool with all this. I tried to remember that this was just her default chara, that she was actually nervous as hell too, but somehow, it didn't seem that way. Amu was stronger than me, she always had been. I shook my head again.

"Hinamori-chan~!" a sickening voice came up behind us. I stiffened. I recognized that voice too well. _Amaya Azumi herself, _I thought grimly. I looked at Amu to see how she was handling this. Amu-chan looked at me and gave me a quick nod before turning around to face Azumi.

"Amaya-san," she greeted in a bored sort of voice. "Ohayo."

"Ohayo, Hinamori-san," Azumi giggled in a blank sort of way, sparkles radiating off of her. She threw me a brief, nasty look. The sparkles suddenly looked more like ninja stars than anything else. Looking back up at Amu, she smiled and returned to sparkling. "Hinamori-chan," she cooed in a babyish sort of voice, "ahem… why are you walking with _Mashiro-san_?" The way she said Mashiro, she might as well have said 'the midget bitch'. _Damn burriko_. I gritted my teeth, resisting the urge to punch her.

"Huh?" Amu said, still in the same bored tone. Her face was still pretty blank, but I noticed a small furrow between her brows. Looking at the crowd around us, I realized people were gathering to listen to our 'conversation'.

"You know, Hinamori-chan," Azumi giggled again. "Mashiro-san hasn't been exactly, uhm, kind to you, has she? She's done some pretty… cruel stuff to you, I must say. I thought you two were no longer friends."

Amu looked at Azumi like she was insane. Raising an eyebrow, she said "Are you kidding me? It's Rima. She'd never do anything to me." Amu smiled at me. I had to smile back. "She's my best friend." She concluded, now with a trademark 'cool and spicy' look. "Come on, Rima-chan," she said, hoisting her bag over her shoulder with her free hand and linking her arm into mine again. We resumed our walk towards the school building, my head held higher now. As I gave a tiny look back, I saw Azumi gaping at us, along with a large crowd of people.

As we entered through the front door, Amu mumbled "Let's find a private place because I think I need to vomit." I giggled, more out of nerves than anything else. "Let's go up to the second floor."

We burst into the girls' bathroom on the second floor, where Amu collapsed against the door. "Oh my God my knees are shaking," she gasped out to me. "Talk about an adrenaline rush! I never thought I'd be able to pull that off!"

"You looked so calm!" I told her. "Did you see Azumi's face when we left? She looked like she had swallowed a hot poker!"

"I know!" Amu laughed. "Her eyes were bugging out all funny!"

We laughed, again, more out of nerves and relief than anything. Amu then called Yaya on the walkie talkie. "Hello?" Yaya yelled urgently.

"Yaya, it's me, Amu."

Yaya doesn't know any sentai named Amu, Amu. It's Pink X! Not Amu!"

Amu rolled her eyes. "Fine, then! It's Pink X, reporting in, Ma'am."

Yaya giggled. "You're so formal, Amu-chan! What are you reporting in?"

Amu and I sweatdropped. "Uhhh, we just had an encounter with Azumi."

"DON'T SAY THAT NAME! If anyone gets wind of what Yaya is planning, we'll all be facing major damage to our lives! Call her the Thistle Bitch."

"Thistle… Bitch?" Amu repeated into the walkie talkie.

"Not me, Azumi! Anyway, Yaya has to go. The firecrackers are almost ready."

I grabbed the walkie talkie from Amu. "Firecrackers? Yaya, what are you planning?"

Yaya didn't respond. The bell finally rang, and we shuffled off to class. The classroom was chaotic; the news that Hinamori Amu had totally dissed Azumi was swirling around everywhere. When we walked in, at first, there was silence, but then the whispering tripled and we found ourselves the recipients of uncomfortable glares and finger pointing. I gleefully noticed that Azumi was missing. The homeroom teacher walked in, and even though he tried to put order to our class, no one was paying attention at all. First and second period passed by quickly. Listening closely to the gossip, I found out that Azumi had gone to the nurses' office, claiming to have suffered a mental breakdown. Yeah right.

Until lunch time, Amu and I basically had to stick close to each other, which went well. Basically we just sat together and talked and played hangman and stuff. I was waiting for lunch time when suddenly, Miyamoto-sensei walked in. My grip on the pencil I was holding suddenly tightened and the "X" I was supposed to be drawing on the tic-tac-toe grid came out looking more like a random scribble. In a flash, Amu grabbed the paper and stuffed it deep into her binder. She gave me a meaningful look that I returned. I flashed back to something Yaya had said to me the day before.

"The teachers shouldn't be a problem, really, but Rima-tan has to watch out for Miyamoto-sensei. He's furious at being discredited by the principal."

Oh, that's right. The teachers still didn't know about my incident with the fanboys, because Easter had taken care of it, which probably meant that they had whipped those boys' sorry asses and some other illegal stuff. I gulped as Miyamoto-sensei leered up from the blackboard. "Today, class," he snarled, "we'll be working on the exercises on page 146. Meanwhile, I'll be going around checking your homework from yesterday."

_Oh shit_. The homework! I actually remembered where it was this time. Unfortunately, it was on the floor next to my vanity, along with my gag manga and everything else cluttering up my vanity. I relived the past nights events, hoping that, in some magical moment of foresight, I had done my homework. I hadn't. Damn. Well, this couldn't end too badly. Maybe Miyamoto-sensei would forget my existence, maybe he would ignore my presence….

The classroom was quiet as Miyamoto-sensei prowled up and down the aisles, critizing and harshly berating. As he got closer and closer, the panic in me steadily grew. I watched the clock eagerly, hoping that it would speed up, but there were still 12 minutes left for the bell. Beside me, I felt Amu shrink into her chair. Apparently I wasn't the only person who hadn't done her homework. "HINAMORI!" barked Miyamoto, now standing in front of us. "Stand up!"

"Y-yes!" she squeaked, standing up so quickly that she knocked her desk over. "Aaaah!" she yelled, and began to pick up her stuff really quickly.

_Our cool and spicy cover is __blown_, I thought darkly as the class laughed openly. I wished I could cover for her, but unfortunately, right now I was powerless. Miyamoto sensei gave us a hard gaze. "May I see last night's homework?" he smiled unpleasantly. I had the urge to punch him and yell, "You most certainly may not," but, like I said, I was powerless.

Luckily, Amu's 'cool and spicy' chara kicked back in and she rolled her eyes. "I didn't bring it, Sensei," she said nonchalantly, looking at her nails. "May I ask why?" Miyamoto-sensei glared. "Nope," Amu said breezily, righting her desk and sitting back down. Miyamoto-sensei's eyes flashed angrily. "Then you will be spending lunch inside with me, Hinamori. You too, Mashiro. Something tells me you didn't do the homework."

Now we were in deep trouble. We needed to make it to lunch, and how were we going to do that with an angry teacher breathing down our backs? I glanced at Amu. She, too, seemed to be panicking. I glanced at Miyamoto-sensei, who was eyeing us like a hungry eagle or something. I shook my head and tried to come up with a way to communicate with Yaya.

The clock was ticking, and I knew we needed to think up a way to get out of the classroom fast. There were only 6 minutes left now, and the clock seemed to be ticking away mercilessly. I doodled idly on a blank piece of paper until I finally thought something up.

Walking over to the teachers' desk, I waited until Miyamoto-sensei had finished taking a swig from his enormous coffee mug. He eyed me with disdain. "Yes, Mashiro?"

"Excuse me, Sensei, I need to go to the Ladies Room." Miyamoto-sensei eyed me harshly. I knew he was trying to detect any signs of bullshit. Trying to look more convincing, I widened my eyes. A bitter feeling of self disgust and hate for my teacher lodged itself in my throat, but this was an emergency.

Finally, the teacher rolled his eyes. "Asuna, go with her," he told a girl in our class. "Hai!" she exclaimed, standing up and taking the hall pass from his hand. "Stay any longer than two minutes," he glared at me, "and your grades might just suffer."

Lameeeeeee. He could atleast come up with a better threat. But I needed to get out of there, so I ran out to follow Asuna to the Ladies'.

In the bathroom, I bolted into a stall and locked it shut. Asuna stayed outside, so I had some relative privacy, but not enough. I dialed Yaya's number. "Yaya? It's me, Rima?"

"_This-is-not-Yaya-this-is-Yellow-Star-sama-and-if-this-is-not-urgent-you-will-die," _Yaya sounded like she was struggling for some reaon. "Whatever. This is," I remembered my codename, "Orange Bow-san."

"Rima-tan, how are you?" Yaya's voice suddenly sounded like sugar, and she seemed to have stopped struggling or whatever.

"Yaya, this is urgent. Amu and I have to stay in class with Miyamoto-sensei during lunch because we didn't do the homework. How do we get out of this?"

"You WHAT?' Yaya shrieked. "Agh, you ruined Yaya's plan! It's ok, Yaya will just have to set up plan B. How troublesome."

Outside, Asuna called, "Mashiro-san! We have to go now!"

"Yaya, I have to go now. But we need help, fast!"

"I've got it! Ok, go back to class or whatever, and don't worry about a thing. See you in a bit."

See you in a bit? That was all? Amu and I were going to be killed. My life depended on this, and this was not going the way it was planned.

**I'm sooooooooo sorry! I keep leaving you guys on a bunch of cliffies :'( I so totally suck.**

**Well, anyway, in about two chapters (I think) I shall conclude this arc, which leaves me with a very important question:**

** Do you guys want me to make this fanfiction longer? Or should I just curtail it and end it soon? I feel like I rushed everything... *sighs***

**Ah well! It don't matter~! C'est la vie... or something :P Thanks to everyone who reads or reviews this story, to all those who favorite story, story alert, favorite author or author alert this! You guys really have become a great factor in my life, and I'm privileged to have you all as an audience *humbly bows***

**And, as always, thanks so much to LizzieGLee12, because she beta-ed this and put up with all my atrocious grammar mistakes. :D I love you all~!**

** ~ Alice**


	7. You Hold My Heart

"Mashiro-san?" Asuna's voice came muffled from the other side of the door. "It's time to head back now." Right. Class. I put my phone away and straightened myself, opening the door and walking behind Asuna to class, wondering the whole way how Yaya would pull us out of this one.

I sensed the class' eyes on me as I entered the room. Miyamoto cleared his throat and went back grading papers. I sat back down as Amu threw me a panicked look and I knew exactly what she was thinking, because it was the same thing I was thinking. _Threeminutesleftholyshitwe'llnevergetoutofthisone. _I sent her what I hoped was a reassuring glance, but it probably looked more like I had a bad case of the runs. Lovely.

Two minutes left. The seconds were racing by, as though they were running a race and too bad for the poor suckers that got left behind, because weren't they going to be royally screwed over at lunchtime. One minute left… forty five seconds…. Thirty…. Fifteen….

A streak of black crashed through the windows, sending us scrambling back as glass rained onto Miyamoto's desk. Everyone screamed as suddenly, hordes of cats began to pour into the classroom. There must have been thousands, pouring in like a waterfall. People yelled and began to stampede through the door, yelling things like "Oh my gosh!" and "What in the world?" and "Help! I'm allergic!" I felt my phone vibrate and opened it. "Open the windows!" screamed Yaya on the other line.

"On it!" yelled a voice from behind us, and I looked up to see Tsukiyomi Ikuto, dressed in black, standing right behind us. As Amu and I scrambled to open windows, Tsukiyomi suddenly rang out in a strange sort of strangled, pained caterwaul.

"What was that?" Amu asked, eyes wide as we looked at him in utter bewilderment.

Tsukiyomi turned his head away slightly, but I could still see the color creep onto his face as he stated quietly "That's how I communicate with them."

"Oh," Amu said shakily, turning away so he couldn't see her face contort in an effort to suppress laughter. I dispensed with formalities and burst out in glee, until I noticed that the cats were gone and the classroom was empty. "What the- " I began. Tsukiyomi cut me off. "I ordered them to chase everyone out of the room."

"Oh," Amu and I gleefully said, mentally storing away jokes for later. Tsukiyomi shook his head and strode over to the window. "We're running out of time." He said, turning to us. "Aren't you coming?"

"Out the window?" I questioned, all laughter disappearing from my face. I turned to Amu.

"No," she stated emphatically, crossing her arms. Tsukiyomi rolled his eyes. In a few strides he crossed the space between them, scooped her up, ran to the window and jumped. I heard Amu scream as I felt my own catch in my throat. Running to the window, I saw Ikuto stand from the crouching position he landed in, while Amu beat him over the head, yelling "Stupid! Stupid! You could have gotten us killed!" He let her down gently. She took two steps and collapsed onto her knees. "What about Rima?" she cried, pointing up to me.

"Jump, and I'll catch her" Tsukiyomi said, helping Amu to her feet. "Hurry up, we should be there already!" I stood on the ledge of the window, my stomach doing flip flops. "I-I can't" I yelled back, gripping onto the window and stepping back. "I- I just can't". Tsukiyomi looked irritated, and then it happened. Someone screamed out "There he is! There's the crazy guy that broke our window!" And in seconds, a swarm of teachers started running towards Amu and the cat guy, Yamada-sensei at the front, waving a plastic sword, riding a pony that looked way to tiny for the load it was carrying. "Charge!" he screamed. "For Narnia and for Aslan!"They advanced quickly, and then, suddenly, there was explosion.

_BOOM! _An orange firework streaked through the sky, startling me and making me lose my balance, making my fingers slip and causing me to hurtle from the third floor of our seven story school building. I braced myself for impact with the ground, broken bones and crushed organs, internal bleeding- "oomph!" Someone broke my fall, and I hit the ground with less impact than expected, Nagihiko on top of me. "Get up," he said, pulling me onto my feet. I cried in pain as I set weight onto my right ankle. "Nagi! My ankle-"

"It's probably twisted," he groaned, leaning down. "Quick, onto my back." I slid on as he began running to the courtyard, 200 meters away. I felt anger and frustration choke up in my throat as I buried my face into his hair. Even though he had me on his back, he was pretty fast. We reached the courtyard seconds before the masses of teachers and student poured in, cats weaving through their legs, constantly tripping everyone. Nagi kept running to the edge of the courtyard, where a huge stage had been built next to the dirt road that the gym teachers made us run on. The stage was decked out like for one of Utau's concert, with sparklers and curtains and lights- it was enormous, made up, amazing.

Nagi clambered on, and someone hauled me off his back and sat me in a chair. A team of people in black lifted me, chair and all, to a curtained off section of the stage, the quote-unquote backstage. What seemed like an army of women suddenly fell upon me, seating me in front of a lit up vanity and powdering me. I heard several people off to the side, discussing what seemed like my wardrobe- "The uniform look is so overdone!" "But Lolita is, too!" "That costume is too forward." "What about that white dress?" "Oh yeah, the white dress!"

Outside, I heard the roar of hundreds of angry people. I cowered slightly, trying to turn around in my chair. "Sit down, honey," a redheaded woman in black pushed me back down into my chair. "Where is everyone?" I demanded. She ignored me and continued powdering my face. I coughed and tried to stand, my ankle sending stabs of pain up my leg. "Where are my friends?" I demanded, and just then, Yaya walked in with a clipboard. I stared at her in confusion. Yaya was dressed in short, blue overalls, a striped blue long sleeve, and a yellow hankie. She wore a black beret and was clutching a megaphone. "Hurry up, people!" she yelled through the megaphone, and suddenly Amu, Nagi, Tadase, Kukai and Kairi popped out, all dressed up and most definitely not in their uniform. "What's going on?" Amu asked, wearing frilly shorts and a pink lace shirt.

"We're going to end this." stated Yaya, with the grim countenance of a military sergeant. Her face immediately broke into a smile. "Just kidding!" she winked, then looked at her watch. "It's showtime." She skipped to the curtain, and then pointed to the red haired woman who had ignored me. "Komima-san, cue them," she directed, then slipped out behind the curtain and started yelling into the loudspeaker. "Hello, everyone! Welcome to Easter's Premiere Party! I'm your host, master of ceremonies, Yaya!"

Komima-san dragged me behind another curtain, handed me a drss and ordered "Change." I struggled into the dress, then hobbled over back to my chair.

"Easter? What the hell?" Tadase was yelling.

"Where's Tsukiyomi?" Asked Nagi. We all looked around, confused. All we could see were the people dressed in black, swarming around backstage.

"He was right here!" Amu squawked hysterical.

"Yuuki-san, what is the meaning of this?" I heard a teacher's furious voice yelling at Yaya. "Good question, Sensei!" Yaya eagerly chirped, "Why don't we let Easter's president, Tsukiyomi Ikuto, tell us!" We heard clapping, and our eyes widened.

"What is going on?" Amu hissed, turning red as she heard the squeals of girls outside. Komima turned to us.

"Easter is throwing a party because of season premieres. Didn't you know?" We all shook our heads, mystified. When had Yaya come up with all of this?

It sounded like Tsukiyomi had stopped talking, and suddenly Yaya yelled out "Let's hear it for our newest stars!"

"That's your cue," Komima muttered, trying to pushing us onstage. "Look excited," she hissed, fixing us with a no-nonsense glance.

"I can't walk!" I told her. She paused, putting a hand on her cheek. "Alright boys," she said, fixating her beady eyes on the gang. "Everyone grab a leg of the chair. Alright, ready? One, two, three, go!" My chair was suddenly lifted into the air as I yelped in surprise. I felt like in those pictures of India with the people being carried by servants. I gripped the edges of the chair, terrified of falling.

We burst onstage, and the sunlight nearly blinded me. I felt even more terrified of falling, my knuckles turning white. The number of people was staggering. My stomach started to fall and I was having trouble breathing. I closed my eyes and tried my best not to make sounds like a snorting monkey/hippo.

The chair was set down, making it easier for me to breathe. I opened my eyes to see what must have been at least 300 people, a news crew, and another swarm of people in black.

"Now," Yaya yelled, waving her arms excitedly, "Easter is debuting the trailer for their newest drama, _Anata Wa Watashi no Kokoro Hojisuru*_. Hooray!" Yaya began to clap and we all joined in. I had to admit, Yaya was a pretty good host. She got everyone pumped up. The curtains behind her pulled away, and a screen lit up behind it. There was silence as a film began to roll.

There was a bus and a voice over. The bus rolls away and you see… me. And I start walking towards the camera, holding a basket in my hand. The voice is of a girl's and she begins to speak "When Mama died, I moved here to live with my aunt. My father was too busy to care for me, and I had no one but my aunt. Once Mama died, I swore I would never sing, ever again. But that didn't last very long. Because I met-" cut to a picture of the ex-Guardian guys- "them."

_What the hell _is the only sensible way I can describe my thoughts, because the rest were something like this- _fkjaqskmnca;sdoeffgamclvgbhsluymslrcm?_

It looked to be a cheesy film. The main plot was a new girl moves back to her hometown after living for years in the city. In her town she reconnects with her old friends from childhood. Her friends are fans of an aspiring band (the ex-Guardian guys), who are trying to get famous and "make it", blah blah blah. Main character's got history with the main singer of the band (played by Kairi, of all people) and so blah blah blah, love triangles, drama, fights, etc. It ended with dramatic music. Yaya clicked her fingers, and suddenly from behind the stage a bunch of fireworks shot into the sky and exploded in a gorgeous display of color.

Yaya started to clap, and soon everyone in the audience was cheering and clapping, too. "Good job, guys!" Yaya smiled at us. We stared back, confused. Yaya shook her head slightly and looked at the crowd. "In case any of you were wondering about the recent odd things happening at school, it was all filming. The rumors seemed to grow, but we couldn't address them until now, because we didn't want any of our footage to be leaked."

"Smart," mumbled Kairi in admiration behind me. Yaya laughed, looking slightly sheepish. "Sorry, everyone, if it seemed like more than it really was!" She made a playful face at the audience and laughed a little. The crowd seemed to believe her and laughed along with her. Just then, a black limo drove through on (how had I missed this?) a red carpet that had been under the crowd's feet. The crowd parted as it pulled up to the front of the stage, and who should step out but Utau and Sakurai Yua.

If the crowd went wild for Tsukiyomi, they went even crazier for these idols. A surge of fanboys lunged forward, screaming wildly "Hoshina-san! Yua-chan!" Tsukiyomi's eye twitched slightly as someone made a grab for Utau. If Easter gave my assailants hell, I didn't want to know what they would do to anyone who touched Utau.

The idols took the stage, and suddenly my chair was lifted again as we were whisked into the backstage area.

"Yaya, what the hell?" I barked out as I saw her come in from behind the curtain, the crowd's roar and Sakurai's "Chiiiisu~!" audible from here. Yaya waved her hand as we conferred in a tight knot.

"Seriously, Yaya, what was that?" Nagi's brow was furrowed in confusion.

"It's nothing," Yaya said airily, "just a trailer I had made out of old footage I had lying around."

"You have videos of us?" Tadase choked out.

"That's where I get the best screenshots to sell!" Yaya declared. "Besides," she added, a small smile on her face, "it's fun to look back on all the things we've done together. Those were just clips I threw together from old video I have. Some of those videos are from elementary school."

"Oh," Amu mumbled.

"I see," Kairi added. I nodded silently. There was a long silence, and I knew what we all were thinking. Things had changed a lot since elementary school, even though we hadn't said anything, we all felt it as we all started drifting away. Once upon a time I told Amu everything, now we never really talked much. I mean, yeah we hung out and stuff, but it had been a long time since we'd had a sleepover or stayed up late talking. It was hard dealing with this and thinking about it, so usually, we didn't. We didn't mention it at all.

I heard the distinct pop and crack of fireworks behind me, and I assumed that the idols were done with their song. Yaya broke the silence. "Yaya should go," she whispered, and walked out behind the curtain. We remained in a knot for a while, and then Tadase asked "Is that the men's room?" waliking over to a door with the universal guy's bathroom sign on it. A lady in black stopped him.

"The girl's bathroom is over there, sweetie," she said nicely, pointing to the other side of the backstage. We all burst out laughing, clutching our sides. Tsukiyomi leaned on a table to support himself, and Kukai was doubled over, howling and pounding the floor with his fist.

"Oh, God," he gasped out. "Best. Thing. Ever." He straightened up as Yaya flounced back in, skipping slightly. "Well, it's almost over. Why is everybody laughing?" she asked. We all just shook our heads and laughed harder. Tadase had turned the color of a tomato, which clashed horribly with his eyes. I gasped out, finally, and then turned to everyone. "I have an idea," I said, regaining my composure. "Let's have a barbeque at my house this weekend."

**Hi~! This is Alice. Sorry I took so long to write, I was just... busy.**

**Ok, bad excuse. I've been lazy as hell and couldn't write. School and life just kept getting in the way, and everytime I would see that someone had favorited this or story alerted it, I felt guilty. SO guilty.**

** But not to worry, my lovelies, I'm back. I think there'll be a new chapter out next month, if I can. In the meatime, rest assured I love you all and I'm sorry for taking so long! . Don't judge me!**

***You Hold My Heart. Yes it's a cheesy name, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I love you. *shot***


	8. The Barbeque

"A barbeque? Yaya loves barbeques!" Yaya squealed.

"Why a barbeque?" Amu asked, puzzled.

"Well, we might as well get one in before the rainy season," commented Kairi.

"Sounds good," nodded Utau, who had just walked in.

"If Amu's going, I'll definitely be there," Tsukiyomi smirked. Tadase flushed and opened his mouth to protest, but Kukai clapped him on the back so hard that he started to cough.

"Let's do it, then," Kukai grinned, then shot a look at Utau. "I bet I can eat more than you."

Utau's eyes flashed and she smiled dangerously. "Bring it on, kid," she challenged.

They began to butt heads, and then Utau looked up quickly. "Oh, yeah, Amu, Yua's looking for you."

"Yua? Really?" Amu's eyes lit up as she smiled and ran out to find her.

"Why doesn't she act like that when she hears that I'm looking for her?" Tsukiyomi complained.

"Because Yua doesn't leave the house at two in the morning to go stalk minors." Utau retorted sharply, having now restrained a squirming Kukai in a headlock.

Tsukiyomi rolled his eyes and mumbled "Big deal," but nonetheless stayed quiet.

Yaya heaved an enormous yawn and rubbed her eyes. "Mou, Yaya's exhausted!" She moaned. "She hasn't slept at all… hnnya…"

"I should be going, now, too." Utau said. We all agreed on a barbeque, two weeks from then.

Mama was ecstatic that I had planned the barbeque. I think she was starting to like having a bunch of people over. It was like she had a new purpose in life now. One day I came home from school and found the kitchen table piled high with fruits. "Mama, what is this for?" I asked.

"I was reading online that you can grill fruits!" Mama beamed up from her laptop. "Wouldn't it be fun to try that with your friends?"

"Mama, the barbeque is two weeks from now," I called to her, heading up the stairs to my room.

Finals were approaching, and the tension was palpable at school. Even Tsukiyomi looked tense. According to Utau, he had stopped going out at night in favor of studying. This worried her.

"He's never studied a day in his life, unless it was the violin." She glared at her smoothie, her brows contracted. She had called us to a small 50's diner after school to discuss "Ikuto-nii~".

"How has he made it this far academically?" Amu raised her eyebrows.

"I have no idea," Utau sighed, "but he's always gotten perfect scores on everything."

I rolled my eyes. "At least we can't completely say he's lived a charmed life," I mumbled, immediately regretting my words as I saw Amu's eyes darken.

"Yeah," Utau sighed, looking out of the window of the diner. Amu looked into her parfait and I leaned my elbows on the table, thinking about the hell I would have to go through next week as finals approached.

I felt the table vibrate and looked at Utau's phone, which beeped once and then was silent. Utau reached for it and then read a text. "I have to go," she said, collecting her purse and smoothie before sliding out of the booth. "See you guys next week."

School was hell. Finals were _soclose, _making everyone tense and nervous. This did not, however, stop people from coming up to us and telling us how much they loved our movie.

"I'm so excited for it!" some girl squealed to me, squeezing my arm. "Do you know when it's coming out?"

"Uh… I…"

"You should ask Yuuki-san," a formal voice behind us stated. Turning around, I saw Kairi holding a stack of books, his face completely devoid of any sort of expression. The girl squealed and ran off, probably to go find Yaya. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," I muttered. All week we had been accosted by all sorts of people. Eager for information about the film. This film being completely fake, I had no idea what to say.

"Yuuki-san wants us to meet after school," he said, shifting the books slightly.

"Do you know why?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Yuuki-san said it had something to do with the movie."

"Ok," I began to walk towards my next class, then stopped. "Hey," I called out to Kairi, "I thought you called her Yaya now."

Kairi turned his back to me, his face hidden behind the books. "I have to go drop off these books," he said, his voice flat.

"Hey, what the-" I began, but was cut off as the bell rang and I had to run off to my next class.

I slipped into my English class. Luckily, Miss Fukuta was just out of college and nice, so she didn't mark me tardy. She smiled at me and slipped me a worksheet with a crossword puzzle on it. That wasn't too bad, I told myself. I sat down next to Amu and set to work.

Eight minutes later, Amu and I had moved on from tic-tac-toe to hangman. It had taken her exactly two minutes to cave. This was progress, I smiled to myself.

After school, we went to the courtyard to meet up with Yaya and the rest of the gang. Yaya was already there, wearing a big pair of glasses and holding a folder that was ready to burst with all the stuff it had in it.

"Well, gang," she began as everyone gathered, " just in case you were worrying, the school has decided to give us a free pass- this time."

We blinked.

"That means they're ok with us having pulled that stunt," she continued, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, this has to do with a certain corporation donating a lot of money and offering to clean up campus. Also, due to the publicity, more people have applied for this school next year. Oh, and Yamamoto-sensei was also compensated with some 'priceless figurines'." She smiled. "So, that was damage control. But we have a problem." She sighed. "You see, Yaya planned on telling everyone that the film was off because of production and scheduling and whatnot, but the movie got such a great reception that Yaya feels she can't say no…" she trailed off, looking down.

"What did Easter say?" Amu asked.

"They said that if we wanted to, we could actually make the film and release it under their name. They're willing to help out with whatever we need, but it can't happen if you guys don't want to participate."

There was a silence as we all took in these words. "Wait," Kukai said, brows furrowed. "You want us to actually make the movie? Like, act and everything?"

"It's an idea," Yaya said, looking at us apologetically.

"I think we have to think it over seriously," Amu said slowly. "When can we start production? What about locations? And directing and editing?"

Yaya's eyes widened. "So you want to do it?"

"Wait a second, Yaya," Amu threw up her hands. "Give us a wekk- or, at least, until after finals. That's the only thing I want to focus on now."

"Ok," Yaya's shoulders sagged slightly. "Well, anyway, that's it. I have to go now. Bye, guys!"

Finals, finals, finals. I managed to pass, but I really don't even want to think about them.

It was horrible. I got one of those letters that my scores were going to be mailed to my parents. I threw it away.

But at least, now that finals were over, the barbeque could start. Mama had been busy all week trying to get stuff done.

"Mama, don't you work? Like, your job?" I asked her, watching as she attempted to set up a canopy in the backyard.

"Huh? Oh, my job. Yeah, that's ok, Rima. I work from home, anyway, you know."

"Right…" I said. "Mama, we don't need a canopy! It's ok!"

The day of the barbeque, the sky was overcast. I mumbled and prayed that the clouds would go away.

It had been oppressively humid but relatively clear all week, so that none of us thought it would actually rain until next week. But today was something else. I seriously felt like I was swimming. Ugh….

Regardless, people actually showed up. It was about 3:30 when everyone finally showed up. We lounged on chairs in the backyard.

"It's so hot..." grumbled Yaya, fanning herself with the newspaper.

"Tell me about it," Utau said, sipping lemonade. I nodded from my seat next to the cooler filled with sodas. Mama walked out into the backyard, having fired up the grill, but didn't know how to operate it, so all-knowing Nagihiko was now manning the barbeque, with Tadase as his assistant. The smell of cooking meat made our mouths water as tadase brought out the platter, stacked with food, and put it on the center table.

"It's done," he smiled, wiping his brow. I ran inside to get rice and napkins. The plates were already outside, along with chopsticks. We ate outside, despite the heat.

Amu was in her love triangle with Ikuto and Tadase, Kairi and Nagihiko were discussing a book and Kukai and Utau were in the middle of an eating contest when Yaya asked, "So, have you thought about whether to do the movie or not?"

Even Utau stopped eating at that. There was a tepid silence because, to be totally honest, the only things we had thought about this week were finals.

"Oh," Amu eloquently put it. "Uhhhh…."

"Well, to be honest-" Kukai started, but then gave up.

"Yaya-chan, we didn't really think about it this week," Tadase said, trying to find the best way to spare her feelings.

"The most sensible thing to do here would be to see a proposal, and that way, schedule it out accordingly. See if we can make it or not. But first of all, you don't have one, indicating that you haven't thought this out. This is supposed to be serious, right? You actually want to make this. But honestly, a movie? Who's directing? Who's filming? What about the money? That's kind of a tall order." Kairi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, but I just don't see it."

Yaya's eyes flashed as she glared at Kairi. "I have thought it up, actually, and I have the proposal right here. Also, I already told you, Easter agreed to back it. I have thought this out. Maybe you weren't listening when I explained this two weeks ago."

Ok, there was definitely an edge in both their voices. What the heck?

"Hey, you two," I said, throwing ice at them, "chill."

We slipped into an uncomfortable silence while eating, the clouds above us darkening, as if to echo our somber mood. Tsukiyomi went inside, muttering something about being sleepy. After a while, Tadase opened his mouth.

"Hey, guys-"

It was as though the clouds above us burst, and suddenly we were all drenched. Utau howled and ran inside, covering her head. We all ran in, Nagihiko dragging the cooler with him. Kairi had grabbed the plates.

"Thanks," I breathed to them. We watched as the rain pounded the deck and my backyard.

"I don't think any of us are going to be able to walk home in this," Amu finally broke the

silence.

"We might as well hang out for a bit," Kukai added, stretching out onto the sofa.

"Mashiro, do you have any videogames?" Utau asked.

"Uhhhhh, I think we have MarioKart," I told her, pointing towards the TV. "Look in the bookshelf."

So for the next couple hours we played MarioKart. It was the only game we had, and we kept having to take turns. It was kind of fun, despite the wait. When it got old, we watched a movie. Slowly, the rain let up.

"I think I should go home now," Tadase said, looking at his watch.

"I probably should, too," Amu looked up from braiding my hair. "It's kind of late."

"Awwwwww," Yaya grumbled, glaring at her nails, which she was trying to paint a bright blue. "I wanted to stay a little longer."

"Oh, well," Kairi said, flippantly. There it was again. What was that edge?

In a giant herd, everyone left for their houses. I stood on the doorstep and waved to everyone, watching them all go their separate ways. Finally, only Nagihiko was left.

"Aren't you going to leave?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow. He smiled.

"Not yet," he said, "I have to ask you something."

I tried to push back the butterflies in my stomach and to ignore the pounding of my heart. I nodded and leaned closer.

"I-" he ran a hand through his hair, looking uncharacteristically frustrated, "I was wondering if you-"

"Rima, is everyone gone?" My mother asked, yawning. "Oh, I must have fallen asleep in my room. Are they- oh." She looked at us, confused. "I mean, uh, oh, I left something in my room." She disappeared. I stared, mortified, at where she had just stood.

The moment was gone, now, thanks to my mom, and it left us standing there awkwardly as I tried to piece together what he had been about to say. Was he going to request my hand in marriage? Ask me if I'd catch a grenade for him? Ask me out on a date?

Whatever it was, he no longer seemed willing to say it. We stood there, staring blankly at each other, before he finally moved.

"Well, I should go now," he finally said, smiling forcedly at me. I blinked.

"That was fun," he continued as he walked off the porch. "See you later." And with that, he took off towards his house, leaving me to stand in my doorway like an idiot.

So my cycle of angst continued. I moped around for a little bit until dinner, and wasn't hungry then, so I just washed the dishes and then went to bed.

That night, I woke up with the worst pain of my life. A wave of nausea hit me as I stumbled to the bathroom and barely made it in time. Lifting my head out of the toilet, I screamed "MAMAAAAA!"

In the hospital, the doctor tsktsked as he examined me. He was an older guy, with white hair and a big round stomach. "Sounds like a case of food poisoning to me, ma'am." He said, shaking his head. "I've seen a couple of cases of it today. It might have happened because of the humidity. Did you eat meat last night?" He asked me. I nodded, catching sight of myself in a mirror. My face was a sickly shade of pale green.

"That might be it," the doctor continued. "In this heat, with this kind of humidity, food spoils fast. Mold grows quickly on the food, and you might not notice it and eat it, causing you to get sick." He sighed and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, you're not the first. I've had a whole bunch of kids your age come in sick today, including that pop star, Hoshina Utau. She even gave me an autograph. Wait 'til I show this to my granddaughter!"

I groaned and pulled out my cellphone. Sure enough, I had about 15 texts from my friends, and I was certain they all were about the same thing.

**Omake Theater: How the Epidemic Started!**

"Ri-chan," Mama called from the backyard, where she was taking down the failed canopy, "it's getting late. Can you take out the stuff for the barbeque? But don't take out the meat yet, because it might spoil."

Rima looked up from her gag manga, only having half listened to Mama.

"Ok," she called back, getting up from the couch and heading towards the fridge. She pulled out fruits, vegetables, rice, and beef. She stared hard at the last one. What _had Mama said about the meat? _She asked herself. She glanced out to where Mama was struggling with the giant tarp/canopy_. Oh well,_ Rima shrugged, then slunk back to the couch to finish her manga.

**15 minutes later**

"Rima, can you bring me the stuff for the barbeque?" Mama asked from the deck, sharpening a knife.

"Ok," Rima sighed, dropping another gag manga to go get the stuff. She picked it up, left it on the deck and walked back to the living room.

_Maybe I should ask Mama about that green spot on the beef. _Rima hesitated, then plunked down on the sofa. _Oh well._


	9. My Little Problems

Too soon, school started over again. Summer had passed (and, thankfully, so had everyone's case of food poisoning) with its usual montage of shopping and going out to get food and swimming and such, with one exception- Yaya was gone.

Not gone, exactly, but boy, she was pissed off because we had shot down her video project. I saw on TV a few weeks ago that Easter released a statement saying that in a freak fire, all the data for our film had been destroyed, so there would be no movie. The fans were all disappointed, but the excitement had died down and life kept going.

Yaya had gone MIA all summer, which was frustrating, because I texted her to hang out and called and even went to her house once and couldn't find her. I expressed my frustration to Nagihiko one day at the park.

"I just can't get a hold of her!" I yelled, waving my arms and accidentally sending my ice cream flying. I rolled my eyes and looked down. "I feel so bad, but I just don't know what to do… I mean, after everything she did for me, I didn't back her up."

Nagihiko was silent, and I raised my eyes, expecting him to say something wise and practical, but instead he was looking at me strangely. My heart skipped a beat, did I have ice cream in my hair or something? I self-consciously stepped back slightly.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing," he said, turning away, "you've just changed, is all."

I bristled. "What does that mean?" I demanded.

"You've just- I don't know. A few years ago, you would have never- you know what, never mind." He gave me a sideways glance. "I think you're growing up."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I flushed angrily. He laughed and I gritted my teeth.

"It means," he said, "that it's easier to like you now than it was before."

An awkward silence settled over us as I stood, too frozen to move or say anything. Nagihiko stared at me, eyes wide, as if he couldn't believe what he had just said.

"J-just as a friend, of course!" he cried, and I nodded, my cheeks refusing to turn a normal color and my heart beating quickly.

"O-of course, I mean, I wasn't thinking anything else-" I spluttered, feeling more and more stupid with every passing second.

"By the way," he muttered after a moment's pause, "you have ice cream in your hair."

We started walking home in silence, and although I was dying to ask him what he had meant by his "growing up" comment, I held my tongue, out of pride and embarrassment. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Nagihiko, then at the ground.

I still couldn't admit that I thought Nagihiko was cute; the very thought made the blood leave my face and make me feel sick. I felt like I was always fighting myself, and slid back and forth- some days I allowed myself to almost like Nagihiko, and other days I cursed the very thought. None of this helped the confused whirl that was my brain.

Adding to this was the fact that a few days ago, my father had called. I was in the kitchen, eating a popsicle when my cell rang. Checking the caller ID, I nearly swore aloud. Throwing my popsicle into the sink, I raced up the stairs, into my room and into my closet. It didn't matter that my mother was in her room working. I couldn't hurt her like this.

"Hello?" I answered cautiously, leaning against the door.

"Rima-chan!" my father's voice was loud and booming, sounding forced. "How are you?" He laughed, as though I had said something witty and hilarious in response. I could practically feel his smile through the phone.

"Hi, Papa," I said, utterly confused.

"How's my favorite girl?" He cooed, and I involuntarily recoiled from the phone.

"I'm fine, Papa, uhhh-"

"How's your English, Rima?" He asked, his voice suddenly all business. I blinked.

"Uh, I have 69% in that class, I think…"

Papa tsk tsked and I rolled my eyes. "That's NG, Rima," he said, sounding serious.

"NG?"

"English is an essential skill in this world. You should do better."

"NG?"

"It's English, it's 'No Good'." He sighed, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, that's ok. We can work on that when you get here."

"What?"

"Well, I have to go now. Bye Rima-chan! Be a good girl, and practice your English!"

There was a click on the other end, and then the dial tone. I snapped my cell phone shut, processing what he had just said. Bursting out of the closet, I flopped onto my bed and squeezed my eyes shut. What had Papa meant about learning English "when I got there?" I shook my head. No matter what, my mother could _not _find out about this phone call.

Back in the present, I realized we had reached our street. I looked over at my house, and took in a sharp breath and stopped.

"Nagi," I hissed, pulling on his sleeve.

"Huh?" he asked, startled.

"Look at my house." I squinted. In the distance, I saw Mama on the porch, giving a paper bag to a girl, who walked a little way before turning back and waving. The girl had two ponytails.

It was Yaya.

Before I knew it, my feet were pounding the concrete, and I was running as fast as I could towards my house. "Yaya!" I screamed, my lungs burning. "Wait!"

Unfortunately for me, I had forgotten that Yaya had taken up jogging in the morning. The second I called out her name, she whipped her head around, taking me in, and then turned around and ran in the opposite direction, going down another street. She was out of sight before I was even halfway down the street.

I stopped, my non-athletic legs giving out of me. I collapsed against the lamppost, wheezing slightly. Behind me I heard Nagihiko running to reach me.

"Rima!" he exclaimed as he reached me, "are you ok?"

I nodded, out of breath. He looked towards the street where she had run off.

"She runs fast," he remarked, "did you really think you could catch her?" He chuckled.

I glared at him, not quite ready to admit that for a second, I thought I could. I also didn't bother pointing out that while I had been completely winded by the time I reached the lamppost, he was completely fine.

On the porch, Mama stood, looking concerned and slightly confused as I approached.

"What was that about, Rima?" she asked me, one hand on her cheek.

"Mama," I demanded, "what was Yaya doing here? Was she looking for me? How long was she here?"

Mama looked at me, confused. "Yaya-chan comes here at least once a week, Ri-chan. You're never here when she stops by, but she always stops to talk." She looked at me. "And I see you forgot the leeks for dinner."

Oh, right. I had been on my way to the grocer's, taking the shortcut through the park when I bumped into Nagihiko.

"Sorry," I sighed, "do you want me to go now?"

"No," she decided after a moment's hesitation, "it's too late to go. We'll just have something else for dinner." She turned slightly. "Hello, Nagihiko. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

My stomach did a funny little twist. I had a sudden vision of us sitting around the kitchen table, laughing like we belonged together- The butterflies in my stomach died violently as the rational part of my brain bitch-slapped my daydreams. Pushing any creepy fantasies out of my head, I looked at Nagihiko, a beseeching look in my eyes as I shook my head slightly.

As much as I would have liked to have Nagihiko for dinner, I was dying to ask my mom about Yaya, and for some reason it didn't seem right to ask in front of Nagihiko. Private things were not to be discussed in front of strangers.

Nagihiko looked like he was about to say yes, but he glanced at me and nodded slightly. He smiled at Mama.

"I'd love to stay, but I can't," he said gently, "I have to practice dance tonight."

"That's alright," Mama nodded, "some other time, then. We don't want to keep you from your lessons." They both looked disappointed, and I felt a stab of guilt, but put it off to mull over later.

I walked Nagihiko down the walkway, grabbing his arm before he reached the street. "Umm, thanks," I averted my eyes. "I'm sorry- it's not like I don't want you over, but Yaya…"

"Yes, Yaya," he mumbled and nodded.

In the horizon, the sun was slowly sinking, casting a warm glow over everything. A thought suddenly hit me, and before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "What direction does the sun set?"

"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west," he responded, automatically.

"Oh," I gazed at the sunset. "It's exquisite," I breathed, looking at the crimson sky and the pink and golden clouds.

Next to me, Nagihiko sighed, "Yes, it is."

I watched a pink cloud turn purple and then turned to Nagihiko, observing how his violet hair seemed to glow. "Well, anyway, thanks," I smiled at him.

He seemed to be caught off guard but smiled back at me. "Sure," he replied, and then turned and walked down the street. I waved and then walked up to my house.

The first day of school I got up early and waited for a long time in the kitchen, hoping that Yaya would show up, but she didn't. Mama and I sat at the breakfast table in silence until five minutes before school was supposed to start. I stared determinedly out the window. Mama put a hand on my shoulder, then said, "Come on, Rima, I'll drive you." She was wearing a suit; she had a meeting today. I nodded, robotically picking up my bag and walking towards the car.

I didn't see Yaya anywhere at school. I couldn't even find her at the assembly. I called and texted but she never answered me. At lunchtime, I checked everywhere. I walked into Junior High campus. I checked all the bathrooms, but I couldn't find her.

I left school early, hoping to find her, but she wasn't there. I stood on the curb outside of school, looking through the throng of kids milling around outside when I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

"Mashiro-san, is everything alright?"

"Kairi! I'm fine. Listen, have you seen Yaya?"

Kairi swallowed hard and said he hadn't. I thanked him and went to look for Amu, but then looked back. Kairi was staring off into space, his expression sad and something else I couldn't quite out my finger on. I almost went back to talk to him, but then someone accidentally bumped into him and shook him out of his trance. He walked away, and as I watched him go, I had the distinct impression that something between him and Yaya was not alright.

As I walked home, I could help but wonder what was going on with Kairi and Yaya. They had seemed angry at each other last semester, and the way Kairi had sort of shut down early today made me more and more curious.

Out of habit, I glanced at my phone and was shocked to find a missed call from my father. I debated whether to call him or not while I trudged home, weighing the pros and cons.

When I got home, the lights were off, so I guessed Mama hadn't come home from work yet. Digging in my bag, I found my little-used keys and unlocked the doors. I rifled through the fridge, trying to find food. In the end, I heated up some rice and beef, and ate in front of the TV.

It was almost 8, and Mama hadn't come home yet. I washed my dishes and went up to my room, knowing I should start on homework, but instead, I found myself staring at my phone. Finally, I took a deep breath and dialed Papa's number.

_Don't pick up, don't pick up- _"Hello?" Papa's voice crackled over the speaker.

"Hi, Papa," My voice didn't sound quite as clear as I hoped, "I saw you had called me…"

"Rait-o, Rima!" He boomed into the phone. "Now, Rima," he started, "I've been thinking, and well, it's been a while since I've had you with me. No, don't interrupt, just listen. I want you here for a little visit. Maybe you can be enrolled in a school here- I don't know. I just want to have you here for a little while. It's been a long time since I've lived with my little girl."

I felt slightly numb and shivered. "But what about Mama?" I asked.

"I'll take care of that, Rima, I just want you here with me. Look, I know you like it there; I just want to spend time with you. Is that ok?"

I didn't know what to say. As much as I loved Papa, I didn't want to leave Mama by herself. And I certainly didn't want to go live with Yasuko. I didn't really know her, but she had stolen my father away, and that was enough.

"Rima?" Papa's voice came through the phone.

"Oh," I managed.

"Well, anyway, I was thinking of picking you up soon, so you could start school on time."

"Right…" I heard the front door slam, and instantly my senses came back to me. "Well, I'll call you later Papa." I said hurriedly.

"Rima-"

"_Ok-Papa-I've-gotta-go-bye_!" I hung up and flung the phone onto my bed just as I heard Mama call out in her singsong voice, "Ri-chan!"

I raced down the stairs, as though trying to outrun the panic welling within me. I flung myself into my mother's arms.

She seemed a little shocked by this but hugged me back, saying "My goodness, I missed you! Have you eaten? How was school?"

We sat chatting in the kitchen while she ate, and then I went to do homework and she went to finish typing up a report. I did most of my homework and then climbed into bed, staring at the ceiling until I fell asleep.

The next day at school I got a text from Papa, telling me to pay attention in English class. I rolled my eyes. How was I supposed to pay attention if he was texting me? I was extremely annoyed, partially because I had gotten all excited thinking that Yaya had texted me, and also because I didn't want him to bring up the "quality time with my Rima-chan" thing again. I loved my father, but why couldn't he just leave me alone?

Whatever. I went back to doodling in a corner of my notebook. Miss Fukuta was lecturing us on something palled past participle, and I tried to pay attention, but I quickly got bored and went back to drawing. I stared into space, oblivious to anything until the bell rang. Miss Fukuta left the room and we went to math class next. There was a test next Tuesday, so Amu and I made plans to study that Saturday.

Just then, the door opened and Suzuki-san the secretary was there, holding a clipboard and saying "Can Mashiro-san and Hinamori-san please come to the principal's office?"

The class was silent and the usual "Ooooh!" began. Amu and I quickly scooped up our stuff before walking out, everyone's eyes on us. Out in the hall we were united with Kukai, Kairi, Nagihiko and Tadase.

"What's going on?" I asked, but Suzuki-san said she wasn't sure.

"All I know is the principal specifically requested the ex-Guardians." She sighed and shook her head slightly. "Amakawa Tsukasa-san is there, too."

"My uncle?" Tadase looked bewildered. Suzuki nodded and kept walking. We followed her, thinking up why we would be called out of class, and why Tsukasa was here.

"Maybe they just want to visit with us," Tadase hoped, but we all doubted it.

"Are we in trouble?" Amu asked, but Kukai shook his head.

"I doubt it. I thought Yaya said it was all taken care of," He frowned slightly, and an uncomfortable silence loomed over us. We went up a flight of stairs before he added, "Do you guys think she'll show?"

I hadn't thought of that. Yaya should have been there, too, but I hadn't seen her today either and it was beginning to make me wonder whether she had even come to school.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Kairi trip and fall, sprawling, onto the stairs. "Kairi!" Tadase yelled in shock.

"Are you ok?" Amu knelt next to him. Nagihiko pulled him to his feet.

"I'm fine," he cleared his throat and readjusted his glasses. "I'm perfectly all right."

"Geez, careful there," Kukai started to walk again. "You might break your glasses." He chuckled and we kept walking.

"Do- do you guys think we did the right thing?" Amu finally broke the silence. "About Yaya, I mean," she clarified. "I mean, she did so much for us, and we didn't thank her at all, didn't back her up… I feel so bad."

"What were we supposed to do?" Kairi looked annoyed.

"Maybe we should have returned the favor," Nagihiko glared at Kairi icily, "Maybe we should have helped the person who bailed us out of getting suspended for life."

Kairi opened his mouth, then quickly closed it. He looked really angry, and I was beginning to feel tension radiate off of him. Luckily, Kukai cut them off.

"Look, guys, I'll be the first to admit we might have made a mistake. But let's not argue about it right now. We'll figure that out later."

Amu looked at me, nonplussed. I was confused, too. I mean, Kairi and Yaya was one thing, but now Kairi was fighting with Nagihiko too? What was happening to the happy circle of drinking buddies? I groaned and resisted the urge to just go back downstairs. In my pocket, I felt my phone vibrate. Pulling it out, I saw another text from my father. I rolled my eyes and snapped my phone shut, not bothering to read it.

We reached the top floor and went into the office. Yaya wasn't there. I sighed and resisted the urge to text her for the millionth time, dragging my eyes towards the principal.

_Mother of gods_, what was the principal wearing? He had a horn taped onto his forehead and was dressed in long robes in varying shades of purple, with little sparkles braided everywhere. He had a tail taped onto his butt, and seemed to be wearing a long wig. Both were dark purple, with lavender highlights. He beamed at us as we walked in the door.

"What do you think?" he asked, twirling around like a fairy princess. "Do I look like Twilight Sparkle?"

"What?" we asked in unison.

"Twilight Sparkle!" The principal threw his hands in the air and began waving them about. "From My Little Pony! Where's Tsukasa? He was supposed to be here in his Apple Jack outfit!"

Tsukasa walked in, with a horn also taped onto his head. He was wearing a cowboy hat, an orange Snuggie with apples on it, and had a tail on his butt, too. He also had a wig, although it was just blonde.

"Right…" I heard Amu mutter next to me. "My Little Pony…" Her eye twitched.

"You know what this is?" I asked her, surprised.

"Ami watched it all the time," she said darkly. "Careful. If you get too close, they'll try to suck in your soul."

"LET'S START!" The principal yelled, summoning a wand and pressing a button. The lights switches off as a TV behind him suddenly lit up, and music flowed from the surround sound.

"Cover your ears!" Amu yelled, "Don't look directly at it!"

Too late, we heeded her words. I watched the screen as a hot air balloon floated from the sky into a little village, and the song said, "My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My-y-y-y~ MY LITTLE PONY!"

It was horrible. It grated in my ear in a frighteningly pleasing way. I was equally repulsed and drawn to it. I understood what Lady Gaga meant about a bad romance. When it was finally over, I blinked, dazed, and looked around me. Kukai, Tadase, and Nagihiko were pressed up close against the screen, and Nagihiko was muttering "It'll make my dance more feminine…"

Amu was huddled in a corner, chanting "You will not take me over. You will not take me over," a manic expression on her face. Tsukasa and Principal Dumbledore neighed. I crawled across the floor and switched on the lights.

"Well, children," Dumbledore put his hands together, "I've recentely taken up watching My Little Pony and am shocked, upon inquiring around the school, that not many people have heard of it! This is unacceptable! The joy of MLP must be shared!" Tsukasa nodded, procuring a hankie and waving it around. "Thus being so, I have decided that next week, we shall have a My Little Pony day, right here at school. And I want you to help out."

"Are you serious?" Amu choked. "A My Little Pony day? What the- how would that even work?"

"Simple," the principal said coolly, "we simply cancel classes and dedicate the day to throwing a MLP party. Oooh! You should be Pinky Pie! Curl your hair!"

"Let's do it!" Tadase's eyes were glowing oddly, and his smile seemed a tad bit unnatural. "Can I be Rarity?"

"How did they learn the names?" Amu asked aloud.

"I was born for the part of Twilight Sparkle!" Nagihiko yelled, as Tsukasa and Principal Dumbledore yelled about how his hair matched the character's perfectly.

"Nagihiko knows them, too?" I raised an eyebrow, slightly disturbed. "Funny, I didn't hear the names anywhere in the song."

"I want to be Rainbow Dash~!" Kukai sang out dreamily.

"Where did you hear the names?" I asked him, but he was too busy talking to Utau.

"Utau, I have to tell you something- I'm a Brony."

From five feet away, I heard Utau's screams rip through the air.

* * *

><p>Heyy, Alice here!<p>

Last chapter didn't have an AN (although it did have an omake theater!), so this one is going to be a little long.

So, happy summer, most of you. Sorry it took me so long to update. I'll make a confession here- Long ago, I had planned to make this summer one of personal betterment and self cultivation. But that all changed when the fire nation attacked.

Just kidding, just kidding. What really happened was that Tumblr sucked me in. Also, my friends coerced me into watching Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, which I fell in love with and am currently bemoaning the long wait until Book 2 of Korra. Dayum, Mako is hot.

Well, anyway, I also kind of got sucked into Vampire Academy and Bloodlines. To those of you who are looking for a good Young Adult series to read, let me tell you: that is one of the best series I've read in a long time. It was pretty well written, and while it's no Harry Potter, it comes pretty damn close on my favorite series list. Don't let Twilight scare you away from the vampire genre. It unfairly condemns this lesser-known but far superior series.

Anyway, other than that, I've been super lazy. I've been trying to recover files from my old computer that had a lot of my Rimahiko story on it, but I've made several adjustments to my story and now have a lot of unused material to sift through and sort out.

Well, that about sums it all up. I'm sorry to all the fans that I've left waiting, I know, I hate it when I'm following a story and the person never updates. I promise I'll be back. Just wait for me *waves hankie* I won't leave you out in the cold~!

No, honestly, thank you for taking the time to read. It means a lot to me, my lovely. Fear not, I'll be back soon. For now, au revoir, my dearest reader.

All the best

~Alice

P.S. I got the NG thing from Dream High 2. Just in case you're interested. Also, My Little Pony pwns lol did you see what I did there a pun ahahaha ok I'll go now. Bye~!


	10. Bridges

The next day at school, the MLP convention was announced. A slideshow of the characters was given, and the Guardians were told to stay after assembly to plan the whole event. I hoped I would see Yaya there, but she didn't show. We were given a file with plans already made- My Little Pony themed games and snacks and costumes, the whole enchilada.

"These are really good," Nagihiko told Principal Dumbledore as we sat around a table, mapping out the schedule. "Did you get this off the internet?"

"No, Yuuki-san gave them to me before she went off to class," he answered. "Can you believe my luck? She's a fan of the show."

"Wait," Amu interrupted, "Yaya was here?"

The Principal looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course she's here. Why wouldn't she be?"

"Why isn't she here at the meetings, then? Or at your office yesterday?" Kairi asked.

"She's running the whole thing, so she works on another schedule," Yamada/Dumbledore said. "Think of it this way- she's management, you're labor."

"Thanks for the ego boost," I grumbled, then went back to revising the list of games. Yaya had been here? She'd been behind this whole thing? Why was she avoiding us? Gah, it was all so complicated!

I sighed and placed the papers in a folder. The bell rang, and we went to class, Kairi running so he could make it to the middle school campus. In the hall, Amu and I discussed the situation we had on our hands.

"She could at least text me back!" I complained. "But nooooo, instead, she ignores us and goes ahead and plans a lot of things without telling us."

"I don't really know what's going on," Amu said slowly. I quirked and eyebrow at her. "Not like that! I mean, not like I'm clueless or anything. I mean, within our friends. Kairi has been really mean lately, and Tadase seems kind of depressed, Yaya's avoiding us, Kukai and Utau are all coupley and have no time for anyone-"

"And Tsukiyomi?" I prompted, a big smile on my face.

She buried her face in her hands. "And Ikuto's been getting on my case about letting Yaya and Easter down. I swear, it's driving me crazy."

Oh, right. I had forgotten that Easter was backing the film. I guess that they, too, had been affected somehow.

"Shoot. That sucks."

"Tell me about it."

I ran a hand through my hair. This week was so stressful, and now we had a big event to plan. A My Little Pony event to plan. My eye twitched. Freakin' stupid ponies.

That night I sighed over my homework and texted Yaya for the last time that day. All of a sudden, my phoned pinged; I had a new message. My heart beat with anticipation as I opened it eagerly, hoping to see Yaya's reply.

_From: Fujisaki_

_To: Rima_

_Do you own any star-shaped hair clips?_

_From: Rima_

_To: Fujisaki_

_Don't you own any, Nadeshiko? Why are you texting me, anyway? _

_From: Fujisaki_

_To: Rima_

_This is serious; it's for my costume. How am I going to be Twilight Sparkle if I don't have any sparkles?_

_From: Rima_

_To: Fujisaki_

_Can't you just tell me in person, like earlier at school or something? It's not like you live next door or anything._

_From: Fujisaki_

_To: Rima_

_Stick your head out your window._

_From: Rima_

_To: Fujisaki_

_What?_

_From: Fujisaki_

_To: Rima_

_Just do it._

Agh, what the heck. I opened my window and stuck my head outside. My phone pinged again.

_From: Fujisaki_

_To: Rima_

_Turn your head to the left._

This was kind of really creepy, I had to admit. _This is the kind of things that serial killer victims do, _I thought to myself._ He says 'Go into the creepy basement' and some poor unwitting soul like me goes down and-_

"OH SHIT!"

Light poured out of the window, illuminating Fujisaki's face. "Hii, Rima!" he waved furiously. I almost fell out the window. Yanking myself back inside, I slammed the window shut and closed the blinds.

"Jesus Christ," I breathed shakily. My phone rang, and with trembling fingers I opened it.

"Hello?"

"I thought you wanted me to ask you in person? Well, anyway, I need sparkly barrettes or star-shaped hair clips. Or both, if you have them- Rima?"

I was hyperventilating by now, and had to sit down. "You can see me." I stated.

"Well, not anymore, your blinds are closed-"

"YOU CAN SEE ME!" I yelled hysterically into the phone. "YOU CAN SEE ME, AND THIS WHOLE TIME, YOU HAVEN'T BOTHERED TO TELL ME!"

"Not really. I can only see you if you stick your head out the window."

"Thank God," I mumbled.

"We're at a 45 degree angle, Rima."

"A what?"

"You know, a 45 degree angle between your window and mine."

"I don't pay attention in geometry."

"I figured." There was a pause, and then he asked me, "So, what pony are you dressing up as?"

"Uhh…" I hadn't really given it much thought. Actually… "I wasn't planning on dressing up," I told Nagihiko.

"What?" He sounded horrified. "You have to dress up as one of them! I'm going to be Twilight Sparkle, Tadase is going to be rarity, Kukai is going to be Rainbow Dash, and Amu's going to be Pinky Pie. You have to dress up. You can be either Fluttershy or Applejack."

"Who or who?"

"You should be Applejack! She's blonde, you're blonde, it's perfect!" He seemed to happy to be sane.

"Nagi, remember what they tell us at school. Drugs, not hugs. I mean, hugs, not drugs!"

He was quiet for a moment. I waited for him to respond.

"You called me Nagi."

"No I didn't," was my immediate reply.

"Yes, you did. Don't lie to me."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Yes."

It took me a moment to find a good retort. "Well, if that ain't the pot calling the kettle black."

His voice sounded slightly harsh as he answered, "You never let things go, do you?" I didn't answer. Finally, he said, "You know, you really should dress up like Applejack. You have the accent down and everything. Ain't that so?" Then he hung up.

I threw my phone across the room and fumed for the rest of the night. Nagihiko was being uncharacteristically rude. I pouted and thought of how all my friends seemed to be breaking apart lately. It's like we were treading on the old, worn out bonds we'd had since elementary school, bridges that were worn down by pressure from school and family and relationships and everything. I changed into my pajamas and flopped down on my bed, too tired to keep thinking.

It was barely Wednesday, but I was too exhausted to be at school. I napped through the first three periods and spent the rest of my time brooding in my seat. At lunch, Amu and I walked out to the courtyard, only to be greeted by some very excitable guys comparing plans for their My Little Pony outfits.

"Oh, good," Amu pulled some papers out of a folder, "I was hoping you guys could help me with my Pinky Pie costume."

My heart beat quicker as I tried to slink away from the table, but alas, Tadase had to open his fat mouth.

"What are you dressing up as, Mashiro-san?" He asked, sparkling. I swore under my breath.

"I'm… working on it…" I mumbled lamely.

"What character are you dressing up as?" Kukai asked.

"Uhhh…"

"You should dress up as Fluttershy!" Chimed in Amu, "That way we both could have pink hair!"

Kairi cleared his throat. "Pardon, I was planning on dressing up as Fluttershy. Seeing as I have green eyes and all."

"Then it's settled. You should be Applejack," Fujisaki smiled brilliantly at me. I glared at him, still not having entirely forgiven him for yesterday.

"I'll think about it," I said, disgruntled. Fujisaki smiled at me serenely.

Just then, Tanaka-sensei marched over to us, sending students fleeing in various directions. I saw Kukai shrink in the corner of my eye. As she approached, my heart couldn't help but beat a little faster. What had we done this time?

"You, ex-Guardians," she barked, pointing a finger at us, "the Principal wished to see you." Then she walked away, grabbing the collar of some second year guy who was flirting with a first year girl and dragging him off.

Kukai sighed with relief. "Honestly, I think that's the best mood I've ever seen her in," he observed.

"You seem to be paying a lot of attention to Tanaka-sensei's emotional state lately, Kukai," Fujisaki remarked dryly. Kukai gave him a look.

"You would, too, if you found out she was making cuts on the soccer team. Don't want to get on her bad side. That reminds me, you trying out for the basketball team, Nagi?"

I choked on my drink. "You play basketball?" I remembered the time that Fujisaki and I had danced the Queen's Waltz and he played basketball. "Damn overachiever," I mumbled under my breath.

"Of course I play basketball. I'm very well rounded, Rima. Surely you don't think that I spend all my time studying and dancing, do you?"

That's actually exactly what I thought. Somehow, I imagined that in his free time Fujisaki could likely be found in a kimono, waving fans and reciting the periodic table of elements.

"Shouldn't we be going to see the Principal right now?" Tadase asked shyly.

"Right," Kukai stood up, grabbing his lunch things. "So, Nagihiko, are you going to join the basketball team?"

"I'm not sure yet," Fujisaki replied uneasily. "It depends on some… things."

"What things?" Kukai pressed. I sighed.

"Probably something to do with his cross-dressing past that he doesn't want to tell us," I said in a stage whisper. Fujisaki rolled his eyes.

"Actually, I was wondering whether to go back abroad and study dancing," he said as we all began walking to the Principal's office.

"WHAT?" We all shouted in unision. I tripped, Amu began to sputter, Kairi opened his mouth but closed it, Kukai started coughing on a sushi roll and Tadase's eyes began to well with tears.

"Woah!" Nagihiko put his hands out as if to calm us down. "Easy, guys. It's just an idea I had."

"Why would you want to leave us?" Tadase's eyes were sparkling with unshed tears like a shojo heroine's, causing the fangirls to swoon as we advanced through the courtyard.

"Well, lately I haven't really been practicing dance. I have to make up my mind soon, whether to professionally study that or just go and do something else with my life." We reached the building and began climbing the stairs. "But like I said, it's just and idea."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner, Nagi?" Amu demanded, looking like she was about to break down sobbing. "I mean, you left for a year after elementary school, but when you came back I thought you said you weren't leaving again."

My hands were tingling and there was a lump in my throat preventing me from speaking. I shivered, suddenly cold and frozen, though my face was burning, remembering _that_, that something that I would never tell anyone, something that I swore I wouldn't let anyone know, ever. Above Amu's head, I saw Fujisaki's eyes flicker over to me. I shook my head slightly, my jaw tight.

"I know," he told her, "it was just an idea."

A damn horrible one. We climbed the stairs in silence, a cloud of gloom having ascended over all of us. The memory of_ that _gnawed on my conscience. I breathed in and out quickly, my palms clammy and my heart beating quickly.

We finally reached the Principal's office, and he quickly ushered us in, a very flustered Suzuki-san being busy telling him that no, she would not be dressing up as a pony for the convention. He rolled his eyes and waved her out before turning to us. "Perfect," he said, looking us over. "Ok, let's begin with the basics. Does everypony have a costume?"

Kairi opened his stupid mouth. "Actually, Mashiro-san does not have one yet."

Principal Yamada whipped around, his wide eyes being magnified by his glasses. "What do you mean, you don't have a costume?"

"I'm working on it!" I prostested. More like working on a way to get out of dressing like a pony, but bringing that up wouldn't help. Yamada rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed.

"Do you at least have a character picked out?" He eyed me sharply. I gulped.

"Uhh… well, see…"

"She's dressing up as Applejack," Tadase cut in.

"Excellent," the Principal nodded his head. "So, what is everyone else dressing up as? I assume that you," he pointed at Amu, "are taking up my suggestion and going as Pinky Pie?"

Amu nodded and pulled out the papers to show him, but he waved his hand. "Suzuki-san!" he called as she scurried into view, "Take these papers and photocopy them for me, please. Does anyone else have their basic costume design?"

Everyone nodded and took out their sketches. I felt awkward and tried to hide behind Amu. The Principal looked over them, then paused.

"Who's sketches are these?" he asked, holding up a laminated sketch of a yellow pony with pink hair. Kairi cleared his throat.

"That's mine," he informed Yamada.

"That won't do," Yamada shook his head. "Yuuki-san is dressing up as Fluttershy."

"Really?" Tadase asked, as Kairi flushed angrily and clenched his fists.

"Yes," the Principal thought a moment, then said, "Well, I suppose you can dress up as Spike! He has green eyes and green spikes!" He gasped. "You should be Spike!"

Kairi was fuming, I could tell, but he said nothing and just looked at the floor. I groaned internally and steeled my resolve. I would get to the bottom of this, no matter what. I had to find out what was going on with Kairi and Yaya.

The Principal looked us over, then sighed. "I noticed that some of you were planning to go full-on pony, and while I see no problem with this, Tsukasa is scared that we'll scare the no0bs to this fandom too much, so he said we should do personifications instead."

"Personifications?" Kukai asked, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"We must capture the essence of each character in a costume~!" The principal fluttered about like he was trying to take flight. "For example, Twilight Sparkle likes to study. So why not dress her in a schoolgirl uniform and have her carry books?" He studied Nagihiko for a moment, then asked "How comfortable would you feel in a skirt?"

Nagihiko choked as Kukai and I burst out into hysterics while Amu and Tadase giggled behind their hands. Even Kairi cracked a smile at that.

"Oh, believe me," I gasped out between laughs, "wearing a skirt is like a second nature for Nagihiko."

Fujisaki glared at me as Yamada clapped his hands and crisply said "It's settled, then. You all may go off to class now. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. And you," he looked pointedly at me, "I expect your outline soon."

We exited the office, Suzuki-san handing back everyone's outline. Kairi took his, threw it in the trash can and stalked off, angrier than I've ever seen him. "Woah," I felt uneasy around this Kairi.

"Does anyone think that Kairi's been acting weird?" I asked as we headed down the stairs. Kukai gave a low whistle.

"No kidding. I'm starting to think that the real Kairi's bound in a closet somewhere and that's his evil twin."

Amu looked upset. I walked up next to her and gave her a small smile. "Don't worry," I said to her, "It'll be ok." She looked down again, then threw her hands up and hit the wall, screaming "GOD DAMMIT!"

I stared and took a hasty few steps back. Amu rarely swore, or at least, that's what she claimed. She only swore if she was really frustrated. Behind me, everyone came to a standstill.

"Rima," she barked, "second floor bathroom. Now."

"That sounds kind of sketchy-" I began, but she grabbed my hand and dragged me down the stairs.

She slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, sliding down until she was sitting.

"I hate this!" she groaned, her face in her hands. "Why is this happening to us? What the hell is going on?" She groaned again and sniffled.

I didn't really know what to do; I wasn't exactly an angel of comfort. "Uhhh…" I tried, thinking as fast as I could, "uhh, well, see, everyone has problems-"

"I know that!" she was uncharacteristically sharp. "I mean what is happening to us? We used to be so close a few years ago, and now it's like I don't know anyone anymore." She looked up at me, her eyes glistening with tears. "It's like we're standing on a broken bridge- it's so hard to cross, but I want to get to the other side."

I thought back to last night, when I had thought of how we were crumbling apart. Slowly, I crouched down slightly so I could be face to face with her.

"Sometimes, things have to get worse before they can get better," I said gently, closing my eyes for a second. "But we all have to try to get our friendships back. I don't think they can ever be the way they were, but who knows? Maybe they'll be better." Despite the fact that everything seemed to be blowing up in my face lately, I couldn't help but feel hopeful.

Amu reached out and hugged me tightly. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed into my hair, "I'm trying not to cry, I really am," she wailed and hugged me tighter. Despite myself, I felt oddly peaceful.

"That's ok," I patted her hand, "go ahead and cry."

After a while, we heard the bell ring. "I don't really wanna go to class," Amu admitted to me, checking her face out in the mirror.

"Me either," I said, nonchalantly inspecting my nails. "Wanna ditch?"

"Won't we get caught?" She asked, aghast but intrigued.

"We can always say we went to go get my costume," I told her. "Dumbledore- I mean, Principal Yamada won't care either way. He's too busy playing Minecraft."

So that's how Amu and I ended up at a boba shop at one in the afternoon on a Wednesday. We talked for a long time. It was weird, really- I felt like I was meeting Amu after months of not seeing her. We caught up on her family and school, laughing over old jokes we had forgotten after a long time. Finally, we got on the subject of guys.

"So, Amu," I swirled my boba before taking a sip of the tea, "what about Tsukiyomi?"

She flushed and didn't say anything. I quirked an eyebrow.

"I- I don't know," she muttered, looking down at her hands, "I mean, I just… it's so complicated-" I rolled my eyes "-and I'm so unsure of myself. I mean, I'm barely a first year in high school, for crying out loud! He's in college. He's so much older- but somehow, even though I know I shouldn't, I can't help but trust him completely." Her eyes took on a soft glow of admiration and she kept talking, almost like she didn't even realize I was there. "I go back and forth sometimes- I get nervous around him and I don't know what to think about him, but I really do care a lot about him. I don't know if he cares about me the same way, though." She gave a small sigh, and I thought about how Hotori would react if he ever heard her say this. "I can't imagine my life without him." She concluded, her eyes still shining and her cheeks pink. I thought about this for a minute. What would my life be like without Fujisaki in the picture? My cheeks turned pink at the thought and I immediately shot it down. I did NOT like Fujisaki Nagihiko.

Unfortunately, Amu had recovered from her fluff moment and now chose to ask me the fated question. "So, what about Nagi?"

I lifted my boba in an attempt to hide my face. "I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, trying to keep my voice level.

"Oh, come on!" She grinned at me. "You're totally in love with him."

I choked on a boba ball. What was it with everyone choking today? "What are you saying? Do you even hear yourself? Do you know how ridiculous that is? The idea of me dating that cross-dresser!" I tried to keep calm, but I ended up rambling, my façade crumbling with every word.

Amu shook her head. "I think he likes you," she told me, seemingly aware of how my heart was racing closer and closer to a heart attack. "And I can totally tell how into him you are."

"It's complicated," I mimicked her, earning myself a glare. "Look, I don't know. Honestly, I don't. It's hard to think about it. Fujisaki and I have a history- one of rivalry and fighting, but a history nonetheless. Why would I give that up?"

"For love?" Amu tried, but I shook my head. She went on, "I mean, right before Nagi left, you guys seemed kind of close-"

I squeezed my eyes shut, the memory of those times still clear in my mind. "No," I said, quietly. "Things changed."

"Yeah, but, I mean, right after he came back you guys were fine, but then about a month after you started fighting again. It's just so confusing."

I ran a hand through my hair. "Look!" Amu cried, "you're even picking up his habits! It's love!"

"There is no love!" I slammed my hands down onto the table. "I refuse to be that way. I will not wear my heart on my sleeve, waiting for it to get stabbed!" Never again, I had promised myself. Never again.

"What are you going to do if he leaves?" She asked. I was silent, refusing to answer. Amu looked confused but dropped the subject. "I think he likes you, though," she added quietly.

We quickly moved onto another subject, specifically, Kukai and Utau. "I think it's sweet!" Amu smiled. "They are so precious together. It's like seeing a whole other side of Utau!"

"I don't really know Utau that well, but I can definitely see that they're very happy together," I said. "They're well matched." I frowned for a minute and then asked, "What's going on with Yaya and Kairi?"

"Huh?" Amu asked. "What do you mean?"

"Have you realized how cold they've been acting towards each other? Like, Kairi stiffens at any mention of Yaya. And before summer break, at the barbeque, they didn't seem to be getting along at all."

Amu thought about that for a while, then said, "You know, I thought so too for a little while, but I dismissed it for a while. Huh, that weird. But then again, Kairi has been acting super weird since the end of summer. He's been pretty angst-y lately. It's kind of scary."

I nodded fervently. "It scares the shit out of me sometimes. Like, I'm kind of scared that some day he's just going to snap and bite someone's head off."

"Yeah," Amu mumbled sadly, then looked down at her watch. "Geez, it's kind of late. We should get going." I checked my phone and agreed. We left the boba shop and walked a little way before parting, Amu waving and running off down her street.

I walked home by myself, thinking about everything that was going on lately and how, despite the chaos, I was happy that at least one bridge was being rebuilt.

Walking into my house, I heard my mom bellow from the living room "MASHIRO RIMA, GET IN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"Shoot," I said under my breath, "busted." I dragged my feel towards the living room, going slowly. As I reached, I began, "Mama, I can explain-"

Mama was in the living room, hands on her hips, her purse slung over her arm.

"Look, Mama-"

She held up a hand to silence me. "Mashiro Rima, I am extremely disappointed in you. I thought you and I understood each other, but clearly I was mistaken." I gulped as she took a step closer to me, her face no-nonsense. "Why on earth-" I squeaked "-didn't you tell me that you were having a My Little Pony day?"

"Mama, I'm sorry, I didn't- wait, what? How do you know that?"

"I got a phone call from your Principal and Yaya-chan." She said. "And you don't even have a costume planned out! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh, right," the MLP convention was one of the things I was the least worried about right now, "I forgot?"

"My precious baby!" Mama cried, sweeping me into a strangling hug. "All alone, trying to make a costume by herself; oh, Ri-chan, that won't do. No, no, young lady, we're going out to buy materials for your costume this instant!" She patted my head. "You're going to be the best-dressed pony ever!" Then she skipped around the living room, singing "My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My-y-y-y~ MY LITTLE PONY~!"

"Nooooooo!" I screamed, covering my ears and repeating the protective mantra Amu had showed me, "Ponies, you will not take me over. Ponies, you will not take me over!"

* * *

><p>How you doin'?<p>

Hello, my lovely readers! Once again, I must thank you for stopping by and reading. I truly appreciate your presence here *bows*

I must tell you, this chapter was written as a thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter and my oneshot "Take Action", written for Nagi's birthday. It made my day to see all the reviews! Also, to Josephine Dark, who cemented my idea that Rima should be Applejack! You were spot on, Pegasister*!

Well, anyway, we're starting a new arc soon! :D I think by the next chapter, or in two chapters, we'll be into it. Gaaaaaaaah I'm so excited!

So, sorry for any percieved lack of fluff. Don't worry, we'll get some moments soon, I promise! . We had some Amuto in this chapter, though! :D Amuto FTW~! We're getting a lot of mystery in this chapters (ooooooh, foreshadowing), but don't worry, next chapter will clear some things up.

Thank you so much for stopping by, my loves! Do take care, and I'll see you in the next Chapter of Being Neighborly. Au revoir!

~Alice

*Pegasister- Female fan of My Little Pony (I'm using it loosely here).


	11. The Library

"So, Mama, how do you even know about My Little Pony?" I asked her as we drove to the mall, Mama having spent the past ten minutes talking about how much she loved MLP.

"Yaya-chan showed me," she giggled. "It was during the summer, while you were out. She dropped by to visit and showed me the show. I'm so thankful! They're _sooo _precious, Ri-chan, you _must_ watch them with me!"

"Sure," I told her, silently adding, _when hell freezes over._

"Anyway, Ri-chan," Mama continued, pulling up in a parking space outside the mall, "I'm so disappointed that you didn't tell me you had an event at school!" We got out of the car, and as I walked up to her, she clasped my hands and held them up, like she was Tohru Honda or Koyama Mitsuki*.

"Ri-chan, you must promise to tell Mama everything from now on, ok? No secrets between us, ok? Promise me."

Although she spoke to me like a five year-old, I saw a glint of seriousness in her eyes. She really wanted us to be close. She really wanted me to be happy. I swallowed and nodded. She squealed and grabbed my hand, practically running towards the mall. I smiled slightly and held tighter onto her hand, glad that she was my mother.

THAT OUTFIT.

"I'm not wearing that," I told my mother, gaping in horror at the monstrosity before me.

Mama frowned and gave me a hard look. "Young lady, we have been around the mall several times and this is the best outfit I can put together. Besides," she reverted to her happy four year-old state, "it's soo cute!"

"Mama! It's so embarrassing!" I cried, trying to make her see reason, but she was, as usual, oblivious.

"You're wearing it, Rima, and that's final." She began walking out of the mall and I ran to catch up.

"Mama-" I began, but then gave up. I could always "forget" the costume at home, I decided.

On the drive home, my phone rang. I reached over to pick it up and almost pitched my phone out the window. It was Papa. _Talk about bad timing,_ I thought to myself. Mama was still a little grumpy at my unappreciative attitude or whatever, and now I felt like I was walking on eggshells.

"Who is that?" Mama turned to look at me in what I'm sure is a violation of the quintessential rule of driving that one's eyes must always be on the road.

"No one," I gulped, quickly silencing my phone. Mama's eyes glinted.

"Is it that Fujisaki boy? Oh, for heaven's sake, Ri-chan, you don't have to be shy around Mama! I like that Fujisaki boy, he's very gentlemanly-" I snorted, "- and kind. Answer your phone!"

"Mama, you're forgetting one small detail here: I Don't. Like. Him."

She laughed and swerved back into the right lane, narrowly missing a collision with another vehicle. "Jesus, Mama!" I gripped the side of my seat, my knuckles turning white.

"Whoops," she laughed a little before setting her eyes on the road. "So, who was calling?"

"No one," I automatically replied. She raised her eyebrow and I remembered the "no secrets" promise. "I mean, I don't know the number, so I'm guessing it's a wrong number."

She seemed satisfied and went back to driving, humming a little before turning on the radio. I stayed silent in my seat as an Enka** song filled the car.

Back home I took my "outfit" to my room and locked the door behind me before crawling into the closet_. 4 missed calls_. Shit.

I dialed back and heard Papa's voice, although instead of the traditional Japanese "Moshi moshi?" he answered "Hello?" with heavily accented English.

"Papa?" I asked, a little taken aback by his unusual greeting.

"Ah, Rima," he sounded cheery and bright. "Why didn't you pick up my previous calls?"

"Sorry, Papa," I said, "I had myphone on silent."

"Oh, that's ok, I'm just glad you got to call me. Well, I was thinking that I could pick you up Monday around 4, after school gets out."

I felt the way you feel when you go on a drop in a rollercoaster. My stomach fell and I felt the blood pounding in my head. On the line, Papa called out "Rima? Rima, are you there?"

"Yes," I managed weakly.

"Ok, good," Papa said. "Well, then, can you tell your Mama? Because I don't really want to hurt her feelings and… well, I just think you should tell her. OK? Bye?"

"Wait, Papa," I called out frantically, "I meant yes-" but he was gone. I shut my phone and mumbled, "I meant yes, I'm still here."

The rest of that week was busy, fraught with homework and planning the My Little Pony convention, so by Saturday the last thing I wanted to do was study, but I dragged myself to Amu's house anyway. Last semester's grades were disappointing, to say the least, but I still didn't want to go.

Amu's mom waved me inside, where I found, much to my relief, that it was just the two of us studying. At this point, I really didn't want to have to deal with any more drama. My eyes lit up as I entered Amu's room and saw a plate of cookies on her table. I sat on the pink fluffy carpet and picked one up daintily, politely waiting for Amu's mom to leave before stuffing the cookie into my mouth. Amu laughed and grinned. "I baked you some cookies. Is that account all settled, now?"

I tried to nod, talk, chew and swallow all at the same time, which just ended up in me coughing. Amu handed me a glass of water.

"I suppose," I tried to sound dignified, despite the tears in my eyes and my nose going red. I coughed again and then opened my backpack.

"So where should we start?" Amu opened her textbook and got out a pencil. I sighed and opened up my notebook.

"I dunno," I looked in my empty notebook. I never really bothered taking notes; I would just borrow Tadase's or Amu's before a test. If I bothered studying at all.

So Amu blathered on about trigonometry and proofs and some other stuff while I absentmindedly drew in my notebook. I wasn't even really paying attention to what I was drawing, I was just daydreaming and nodding my head and going "Uh-huh," and "Yeah," so when Amu barked "Rima! Are you even paying attention?" I flipped out a little bit.

"Huh? Uh, what?" I blinked and looked down at my notebook, shocked by what I saw.

Hearts. And flowers. And clouds. And in the corner of my notebook there was something scribbled that looked suspiciously like "Fujisaki Nagihiko".

Dear God, I almost died. I glanced up at Amu to make sure she hadn't seen, but it was too late. Even so, I tore the page out and stuffed it in the bottom of my backpack. I looked back up to see Amu, biting her lip.

"What?" I snapped, flustered.

"Nothing," she began, "it's just-" she looked away.

"It's just what?" I pushed. "What?"

"Oh, Rima, I'm sorry! I hate to tell you this, but, well… GAH! LatelyNagi'!_"_ She wailed, holding her head in her hands.

"What?" I asked, confused by the sudden outburst.

"Lately Nagi's been spending a lot of time with Yaya," she said, miserably.

"So…?"

"So I think Yaya might like him!" She cried.

I gave her a look of disbelief. "Whatever would give you that idea?"

"I don't know! I mean, that one time, when we had the study party from hell, Yaya wouldn't calm down until Nagi came over, which was good because right after that Kairi appeared and I think he would've gone back home if he had seen everything-"

"Woah, slow down, Amu," I patted her back. "I honestly don't think anything is going on there. I think you're just grasping at straws here."

"I'm serious!" Amu gripped me frantically. "I mean, I just- gahhh! I recently found out that Yaya's been talking to Nagi since summer break!"

"What?" I asked, stunned.

"He is! I mean, the other day I saw them leave school together, and then yesterday I borrowed his phone to call my dad the other day and he has a bunch of texts from Yaya and I just didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to get mad or-"

"Wait, Amu, you need to calm down," I patted her back again. "Look, it's no big deal," I said, despite the clenching in my chest or the rising anger I felt. I tried to laugh it off. "You sound like a jealous ex-girlfriend."

Amu gaped at me. "Aren't you- well, you know, angry?" She looked puzzled. "Or at least curious? Or annoyed?"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you serious? Look, what Fujisaki chooses to do is his own business. Hey, can you help me with number 9? I'm kind of stuck."

The rest of that study session was kind of awkward. I was convinced that Fujisaki wouldn't like Yaya in any more than a platonic way, but still, the fact that he had been talking to her, and he knew how much I wanted to talk to her, and he hadn't told me- Something in me shattered and I was suddenly angry. Really angry. Once again, I had stupidly trusted Fujisaki, and he had let me down completely.

I left early, unable to bear sitting still for a minute longer and walked home, furious at Fujisaki. I walked into the house, where Mama was sitting on her laptop, humming and typing. She smiled when she saw me and said, "You're home early." I nodded and waked up to my room, too angry to speak.

I stared at my phone for a long time, trying to decide whether I should call Papa or not, but finally gave up and threw my phone across the room. I turned to look at my window, noticing the blinds half open. I stalked over to the window, resisting the urge to open it and yell "FUCK YOU!" across to Fujisaki's window.

I flomped down on my bed and thought hard. It wasn't really like Fujisaki had broken my trust, I told myself. I mean, he hadn't promised me anything, had he?

"_A-are you coming back soon?"_

"_Yes. I promise."_

Frustrated, I punched my pillow and let out a sob.

Sunday I lay in my bed and stared at the ceiling. My phone rang once, it was Papa. I didn't bother picking up.

Mama called me down the stairs around three to eat. She was pulling together a business proposal for some company (Mama's a consultant) and she didn't eat with me, she just went back to her room to keep typing.

I ate in silence, hearing myself chew as I stared into space, thinking about _that _and Fujisaki's most recent betrayal. I was angry with him, because he neglected to tell me that he was talking to her and because talk of his leaving just reminded me of the one of most humiliating moments of my life.

Just then, the doorbell rang. In a daze, I went to open the door, not really registering who it was- until I saw the eyes. Those beautiful, shining brown eyes, eyes that I could recognize anywhere as Fujisaki Nagihiko's.

"Fuck off," I said, then slammed the door in his face.

I spent the rest of the day in a daze in my room. I just kind of laid there on my bed until I went to go take a bath. I put on my pajamas, and resumed staring off into space.

I had nightmares, which I think were a delayed reaction from several incidents. First off, I dreamed about that day that those boys attempted to commit an unspeakable atrocity, except that for some reason I had a sword and managed to fight them off, running into a cabin in the woods, where Papa was dressed up like a wolf but gave me a basket of poisoned muffins for some reason before chasing me through the woods. Then I was on a boat in the middle of a misty lake by myself, and no one could see or hear me. Then suddenly I had a phone to my ear, and I was saying, "You should send me a postcard… I miss y-"

_Mother of God._ I bolted up in my bed gasping for air, hair sticking to my forehead. I lay back slightly, supported by my hands. As I waited for my erratic breathing to slow, I leaned my head back and glanced at the clock.

It was still dark outside, and my clock read 4:36 am. Bleh. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I was too awake now. I lay tentatively back down, hoping drift back into sleep, but I couldn't. tossed and turned, but I couldn't sleep. Finally, 45 minutes before I had to wake up, I fell asleep.

Ughn. I didn't want to wake up for school, but Mama came and yanked me out of bed so she could do my hair in braids to be Applejack. She also gave me some apple pie, too, and waved me out the door with my outfit.

Ugh, the stupid outfit. I did NOT want to wear it. I stuffed it into the bottom of my schoolbag, refusing to acknowledge it. I wanted to ditch today, but someone had called yesterday and "suggested" that I show up, lest my math grade suddenly "slip."

As I reached school, I saw all sorts of booths and tables set up, with a giant banner of My Little Pony draped between two trees. I grimaced and went in, praying that I would get hit by an asteroid or something and somehow avoid this day.

As I walked in, I saw Kairi working the entrance booth, where people where supposed to sign in and get maps of campus and the activities. I was trying to avoid his eye and slink in, but someone grabbed my arm.

"Rima!"

I blanched and turned around, opening my mouth in protest, but couldn't. My words caught in my throat as I saw Amu, wearing the most ridiculous outfit I've ever seen.

It was pink. Everything was pink. It was like someone had tried to mix my Clown Drop outfit and Yaya's Dear Baby blindfolded and while on crack. With some additions, of course.

The whole thing was huge. I mean, people had to walk around Amu's enormous skirt. It also had balloons sewn onto the edge of the skirt. Like, real, inflated balloons. Her sleeves were balloons. The dress was a hideous pattern of pink checkers and balloons and teddy bears. There were bows on the dress and in Amu's hair, which was curly, like, afro curly.

I burst out laughing, dropping my bag on the sidewalk and shaking so badly my knees buckled. Amu's face matched her dress, her frilly socks, her bright shiny shoes and her 80's hair. People walking nearby stopped to stare at me… or Amu, or both, I don't know. But it's a pretty rare day when Mashiro Rima decides to grace the public with her laughter. They should have been thankful.

"Oh God, what happened?" I asked, not daring to look at her as she helped me to my feet.

"Ami," she groaned. "She's moved on from singing and is convinced that she's a talented designer."

I wiped a tear from my eye as I picked up my bag and straightened up. "Is that a staple in your skirt?" I asked, eyeing one of the balloons on her skirt. "Yes," she sighed. "Ami's sewing skills… well, they suck."

"Why did you let her do that to you? Doormat much?"

Amu scowled but didn't say anything. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, there's got to be something we can do to fix it. And your hair." I reached out and patted it. "Like a poodle," I informed her, shaking my head. Amu giggled, and then asked the fated question. "Where's your costume?"

My mouth went dry and my heart beat a little faster than necessary. "Oh, I, uh, 'forgot' it," I said, hoping this went smoothly. Amu arched an eyebrow. "Sure. That's why your hair is braided and you're wearing boots with the uniform."

I groaned. Mama had made me put them on instead of my usual Mary Janes. She snickered and lifted my heavy braid. "I think it's cute, though," she smiled at me.

"Too bad the same can't be said for your outfit," a female voice behind us cut in. We turned around and saw none other than Hoshina Utua… except, she was so ethereal and elegant that I didn't recognize her at first. She had on a flowing rainbow colored wig that covered one eye. She was also wearing a beautiful white ball gown with gold jewelry and a tiara. There was a belt that cinched her waist, with a big sun right in the middle. She looked great, and I immediately felt my self esteem take a hit, but only slightly. I am, after all, Mashiro Rima.

"Utau!" Amu's cheeks once again decided to match her outfit. "Wha- what are you wearing?" She blurted out. Utau looked indignant, and Amu sputtered in an attempt to fix her mistake. "I-I mean, you look great, but –My Little Pony?"

Utau nodded. "Iku-nii watches it!" She smiled but resumed a frown. "But really, why would you even leave your house like that? No one is ever going to take you seriously. That's terrible taste. You should dress better. I can help you, if you want."

"Now, now, Utau," arms wrapped around Amu's waist, effectively detatching some of the balloons stapled onto her skirt. "I take Amu very seriously. That may be because I'm not interested in putting any clothes on her, though…"

"Get away from me, you pervert!" Amu yelled, trying to wrestle her way out of Tsukiyomi's grip. Amu's face was now bright red, decidedly clashing with her outfit. People were standing there, openly staring, and I heard mutterings of "Cool and Spicy!" and "Is that her boyfriend?" from around me. Tsukiyomi finally let Amu down, and she grabbed my hand before trying to stalk away. She didn't get very far, though, because she had the misfortune of finally seeing Tsukiyomi in her periphery. "Ikuto…" she began, but then clapped a hand over her mouth to hide the glee in her expression. "What are you wearing?"

Tsukiyomi was wearing a dark blue shirt made of some sort of shimmery material. He had dark blue jeans, a belt with a moon shaped buckle, and black shoes. But his hair… it seemed to be sparkling. Among closer inspection, I noticed that it was probably sparkle hair spray. Not only that, but he also was wearing blue eye shadow and what could only be described as a tiara. It was far too delicate to be passed off as a crown.

"Wow," was all I could manage. Utau squealed and latched onto her brother's arm. "I know! I'm Princess Celestia and Ikuto is Princess Luna! We're a pair!" Tsukiyomi's face remained expressionless; I wondered if he practiced that face or if it was just his natural expression. Or maybe just years of being harassed by Utau had taught him.

"Speaking of pairs," Utau interrupted my musings, "where is Kukai?" She searched through the crowd, standing on her tiptoes so that we could see her golden heels. "I need to go find him. Come on, Iku-nii. You guys," she looked hard at me and Amu, "go fix that costume. Stat."

Amu and I walked to the bathroom, leaving a trail of balloons. It was really annoying because once in a while one would pop and we'd both freak out. I decided to fix this by taking a pen out of my purse and popping them all at once. Now there were no more surprises left.

In the bathroom, I inspected Amu's dress while she tried to brush down her hair. It was horrible, of course. There was no way around the checked-balloon-bear fabric. I grimaced and then pulled out a pair of scissors. "Sorry, Amu," I said, not really sort at all. I set to work, cutting up the top layer of the skirt and throwing the discarded pieces on the ground.

"Wait!" Amu called out, reaching for the scissors. "Hold still, Amu, this has to go!" I gestured at the fabric.

"No, wait." Amu took the scissors from me and leaned against a sink, looking almost relieved. "I get it now," she said.

"Get what? My Little Pony? Fashion? The meaning of life?" None of these had ever made sense to me before.

"No," Amu twisted her skirt around her waist until the back faced the front. "Mama told me to wear this, but I didn't quite get it…" she was speaking more to herself than to me. Then, wordlessly, she unbuttoned her skirt.

"Woah!" I turned away. "What the-"

"Rima, look!"

"I'm not sure I want to."

"No, seriously, look!" She turned me around.

She was wearing what I had thought was the bottom layer of her skirt, the one that looked like my Clown Drop outfit. It was still pink and frilly, but remarkably less so. On the floor, I saw the top layer of the skirt, the one with the abominable print.

"Mama made me wear a petticoat," she explained, looking at it in the mirror. It was a silky material, with a light pattern of balloons and squiggles that I guessed were

"Confetti," Amu confirmed, tracing one of them with her fingers. She unbuttoned her shirt and revealed a sort of camisole made of the same fabric as the petticoat. Altogether her underclothes looked like an outfit all on their own- which I guess had been Amu's mother's plan. Amu breathed a sigh of relief as she handed me my scissors. "Much better," she smiled.

"What about your hair?" I asked. "Did your mom make your do your hair like that too?"

Amu sighed and rolled her eyes. "I slept with curlers in place. When I woke up, it was like this." She brushed it down to no avail.

"I think you're going to have to wet it," I told her, examining it closely.

We spent a few more minutes with Amu's hair, managing to flatten it slightly and smooth it down a bit. We left, and I breathed out in relief at the fact that Amu hadn't remembered my costume. Maybe no one would notice if I went and hid somewhere here-

"Mashiro!" A voice called out from above us. I turned around in horror and saw Principal Dumbledore standing above us. He was dressed as what I assumed was Shining Armor, wearing a blue wig and what looked like one of those uniforms that British guards wear.

"Ye-yes, sir?" I squeaked, slightly terrified.

"Where is your costume? I even called your mother to make sure you had one. Ah, Pinky Pie! How are you? Everypony was looking for you so you could lead out the activities, but we couldn't find you so Fluttershy is leading right now."

"So-sorry," Amu stuttered, turning to go down.

"Wait!" Barked out the Principal. "Help Mashiro-san into her costume. Something tells me that if we leave her now, we'll never see Applejack come into the spotlight. Neighhhhh!" He whinnied.

"Right…" I sweatdropped as Amu dragged me back into the bathroom.

So after lots of arguing, fake crying (me), begging (Amu), pleading (both of us), bribes and blackmail (Amu has more dirt on me than I thought), I emerged from the bathroom in my hideous costume.

It was pretty much the worst thing that I've ever worn. I was wearing these blue jean overalls and an orange and red plaid button-up. The boots were brown and cowgirl-ish, and I had a big brown cowboy hat to match it. **(AN: It's actually cute. Ignore Ri-tan's whining.)**

In short, I looked ridiculous.

"Do I have to?" I whined again, trailing behind Amu down the stairs.

"Yes. You'll be suspended and fail school if you don't."

"Ugh." I pouted and crossed my arms as we got closer to the courtyard. I could see the giant stage already set up and watched people go from booth to booth, learning about MLP and getting snacks. I saw someone walking around with a basket of cookies and my stomach growled. Had I even had breakfast? I was about to reach for one when someone called out Amu and my name, causing me to whip around and l lost sight of the cookie person. Cursing under my breath, Amu and I turned to look.

A very pretty girl was running toward us. Light glinted off the amethyst headband in her flowing mauve curls and she was wearing a long, light frilly crème dress that fit her slim frame exceptionally well. Jewels shimmered on her slender waist. She wore lavender tights and crème slippers with lavender bows that were very matchy-matchy with her dress. Her ruby eyes sparkled as she came closer.

Wait, what?

"Ta-tadase?" Amu sputtered, doing a double take. I just stared, too shocked to be coherent. It had been a while since I had seen a cross dresser in action, yes. But there was something eerily feminine in Tadase's whole being that made his being a girl seem so… natural.

Tadase giggled- seriously, like, a girly giggle- and smiled. "I'm Rarity," he declared, his voice twittering in a sing-song way. Tadase was usually girly, but seeing him so… so similar to a girl was slightly unnerving. Amu looked almost insulted. Later, she confided to me that she'd seen that same dress in a boutique and tried it on. "It looks way better on him," she sighed, glaring daggers in Tadase's direction.

Tadase sent us to work at the character booth, where basically we explained to everyone who the characters in My Little Pony are and their role in the series. We relieved a disgruntled looking Kairi, who was dressed up as Spike. He had on a long, light purple trench coat, a yellow t-shirt, blue jeans and had sort of spiked his hair up. He looked sort of nondescript, which I guessed was from having to scrape together an outfit in less time than most of us had. I looked down at mine and sighed. Mine looked plain and underwhelming too.

Amu and I set to work at the booth, where we found out via a schedule taped onto the table. It said that there would be a showing of MLP episodes soon, followed by another hour to tour the booths again. After that was lunch, followed by a concert -"I'm singing?" Amu cried- and a few skits, a picture taking segment, and then a dance, after which there was cleaning and then people could go home.

"It's going to be a long day," I told Amu, handing her back the schedule. She blew out her cheeks and nodded.

We endured about 45 minutes of telling people about MLP before the episodes were shown. Amu and I were in the middle of explaining the difference between Pegasus ponies and Unicorns when a girl appeared on the stage and called out for silence.

She was wearing a soft yellow halter dress that poufed out slightly towards the bottom. Her long, silky pink hair trailed down her back, and she was wearing white flats. It was very simple but cute. The girl shyly spoke out.

"Excuse me, everyone," her sweet, soft voice called out, "if you could all calm down, we're about to start the showing."

"Is that Yuuki-san?" A girl by our booth cried, and Amu and I exchanged surprised looks. I'd never heard Yaya speak in first person before, and she looked so different- so calm and composed, unlike her usual hyper self. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kairi suddenly stop and stare at Yaya like he'd never seen her before.

I myself was shocked. I think we all were. I'd never seen Yaya look remotely like that. It was unsettling, but kind of interesting. She looked nice.

I really wanted to go and talk to her and apologize. Fix our friendship. Start new. Clean slate or whatever. Then I remembered that Fujisaki had been talking to her all summer, even when he knew how badly I wanted to, and he never mentioned it. A dark coil of anger settled in my stomach, and I gritted my teeth.

The videos started rolling, and everyone was supposed to take their seats. Guardians were supposed to head behind the giant screen to be assigned to a new post, so we headed backstage to check on things.

I was walking in behind Amu when someone grabbed my arm and quickly turned me around. Unfortunately, I was totally unprepared and I tripped, my feet sliding out from underneath me, dragging me to the ground.

"Ow!" I yelped, as someone dragged me to me feet. I looked up and glared into Fujisaki's eyes. "What the hell?"

"Funny, I was wondering that yesterday when you slammed your door in my face. You've been mad at me all weekend. What's going on, Rima?" He looked hurt, and I felt a flicker of guilt, but I was too frustrated to say anything. I didn't speak and made as if to leave, but he grabbed hold of my shoulders and turned me to look at him.

"Listen, I don't know what's going on, but I'm sorry," he said apologetically, "but I have an idea of what's going on with Yaya. I thought you might want to hear it."

I narrowed my eyes. I was furious with Fujisaki for not having told me that he was talking to Yaya, and considering that I was dressed up in a My Little Pony outfit, was sleep deprived and had that weighing on my mind, I wasn't exactly in a peachy enough mood to not call him out on it.

"I have an idea of what's going on with Yaya, too. You've been talking to her," I pointed at him accusatorially, "and you didn't even bother to tell me!"

"Who told you?" He asked, surprised. I threw up my hands, annoyed.

"Does it matter? You were talking to her all summer, Fujisaki, and you didn't even tell me! You knew how bad I wanted to talk to her, and you didn't say anything?" Somehow, his betrayal cut me deep.

"Look, I wanted to tell you, but she wouldn't let me-"

I scoffed. "Oh, please, that is a pathetic excuse! You're just a crossdressing traitor-"

"What is your problem?"

"Maybe the fact that you lied to me-"

"I didn't say anything-"

"That's just as bad as lying!"

"It's not the same thing, Rima, and if you weren't being so stubborn-"

"It's Mashiro to you, and if you weren't being such an ass-"

"Oh, so we're back to formal names?"

"Until you stop being a lying crossdressing freak, yes!"

"Oh my God!" Fujisaki ran a hand through his hair and then glared down at me. "Are you seriously going to pull out the crossdresser comments, again? Don't you have better insults?"

"Don't you have better manners?"

"Swallow your goddamn pride, Rima, and listen to me." Fujisaki looked dead serious, and somehow I couldn't quite hold his gaze; I had to look away. I bit my lip, then lifted his hands off my shoulders.

"Send me a postcard from Europe," I said dully, and I saw him stiffen as I repeated the words I had told him a long, long time ago.

I walked off the stage, not quite sure where I was going, but once I left the courtyard, I started to run. I wasn't quite sure where I was going, I just started to run. Not for long, but I did end up at the edge of the gardens.

I couldn't go there since the incident with Kirishima. Every time I went near there, I just wanted to vomit. I almost took a step forward. Almost, but then I remembered what had happened and I just couldn't. I turned around and ran into the building.

I ended outside the library. To be honest, I had almost forgotten that the school had a library. It was a nice place, I guess. In the front, there was a check-out desk perpendicular to the door and several tables. The back half was lined with shelves and rows of bookcases, and there were a few computers and printers to the left. The door was unlocked, so, shaking, I went inside and headed to the back.

In the half-light, I leaned against a bookcase in the back and slid down, feeling the cold tile floor through my overalls. I buried my face in my hands and pulled away, surprised to find my hands wet. Touching my cheeks, I realized that I had been crying. Pulling a hankie out of my pocket, I wiped my cheeks and took a deep, shaky breath, trying to steady myself.

I leaned back against a bookcase and closed my eyes, trying to figure out why I was so worked up. I was like I couldn't think straight. I was exhausted and frustrated and confused with all the stuff going on in my head. Fujisaki, my parents. My friends, our new relationships. School, My Little Pony. I breathed deeply twice and tried to relax, chewing on my thoughts.

The door creaked slightly, and I started, opening my eyes. How long had I been here? The shadows on the wall were longer than when I first got there. I had been in my trancelike state for a while, I guessed.

I heard footsteps and tensed up, drawing closer to the bookshelf. I heard a few whispers and what sounded like two people's footsteps. Shifting so I was kneeling, I peeked around the corner.

I could see the figures of a girl and a boy entering the library. The girl sat down a table, swinging her feet. The boy just stood in front of her, hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry. I really am." The boy said, looking down.

The girl giggled. "That's ok. I am too. But, you know," her tone suddenly became serious, "we really need to talk."

"I-"

"Shhhh…" the girl cut him off. "Listen, even though we've had our problems, I really want this- us- to work out."

"Me too," the boy sounded earnest, "but how can it?"

"Like this!" the girl said, getting off the table and flinging her arms around the boy's neck. I gasped as he stumbled back a bit towards the windows as their lips met. His arms circled around her waist, and they stood, locked in an embrace.

The library was darker now than earlier, but there was still enough light to make out the two people who were in the library. One was Kairi. The other was Yaya.

* * *

><p>Yo! Alice here~!<p>

Ok, I know. I'm sorry. I left it on a cliffie, and even though I promised this chapter would explain a lot, it didn't. I miscalculated, I'm sorry. Next chapter will explain. I know, I suck.

So, I saw the new Batman! It was good; I really liked Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. I think she was phenomanal, and gave solid, believable performance. She really was her character.

Let's have a moment of silence for Colorado.

Alright, so I have a few corrections and clarifications for you.

Going through Chapter 9, I realized that I wrote the last three sentences weirdly. Let me clarify- when Kukai is talking to Utau, it's via cellphone. Sorry, my bad. I meant to specify but ended up forgetting to write in that detail before I uploaded it.

Koyama Mitsuki and Tohru Honda are shojo heroines from Full Moon wo Sagashite and Fruits Basket, respectively.

Enka- a Japanese music style

Bedazzler- Ok, have you ever seen the movie The Game Plan? Not the best movie ever, but that's where I got the Beddazler idea from.

Well, in random news, I wrote an Amuto oneshot recently, which is totally and utterly ridiculous but I nevertheless enjoyed writing it. I also wrote a oneshot for Nagi's birthday, which I personally think is one of the best things I've ever written (which doesn't say much). Also, although this was a while ago, I updated my profile, so now it's long and annoying when you want to quickly scroll down to my stories (which I now have four... squee!)

I'm sorry for the late upload, I kept getting stuck on a few details while writing this chapter. Also, my family is in town and I've been obsessively tracking the progress of The Indigo Spell, the new book in the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead. If you haven't read Richelle Mead, do it. She's great.

Well, I'm going to be gone for a few days, so sorry for the late updates. Take care, and thanks for reading!

-Alice

* * *

><p>25July

So I realized that I had accidentally left a notation in the document before I uploaded it (the 'Shining Armor/Princess Cadence' thing). Sorry for the mistake, it's now been corrected. Also, as a side note, I would like to add that Ikuto's "not interested in putting any clothes on her" comment is a reference to Adrian Ivashkov in Richelle Mead's book "Spirit Bound", where someone tells Adrian (about his girlfriend Rose) "You should dress her better, you know." And the ever witty Ivashkov responds "I'm not interested in putting any clothes on her." (OMG fangirl squeee I love you Adrian marry me why are you fictional damn you Richelle Mead whahahabngks, cbl sxbc).

Well, anyway, sorry for the mistake, it may have seemed weird or something, but it's fixed now. Aur revoir, mon amies!


	12. Chasing Safety

This was the best time for me to leave, before anything else happened. I felt uncomfortably warm and awkward. I began to crawl to the left, hiding behind a bookcase. Unfortunately for me, the front half of the library was just work tables, making it harder to pass by unnoticed.

Not like they were paying attention. Yaya was somehow laughing and making out with Kairi at the same time, and he was looking at her almost worshipfully. Oh, gross. I made a face and scampered towards the nearest table on my hands and knees.

I scurried across the floor, trying my best to not see my friends making out in what they thought was a deserted library. I would hurry, duck behind a table, wait for a second, and then crawl again. I was behind the last table, so close, almost to the check out desk. Taking a deep breath, I threw myself across the floor and hid behind it. The noises behind me indicated that they had not noticed me. Grimacing, I surveyed the door, trying to work out how I would get out.

The door was about a foot and a half away from the edge of the desk, so I could measure pretty well from where I sat that was no way I could move the door without it creaking, and even though I was small, there wasn't enough space for me to crawl through it. I would have to stand and try to squeeze through the narrow opening.

I backed up against the wall and stood up quietly. Standing on tiptoe, I slid along the wall to the door. Barely breathing, I was less than a foot away from the door… so close…

Light suddenly flooded the library, causing Yaya and Kairi to gasp and break apart. It also caused me to scream and duck, knocking over a stack of books on the library check out desk. Worse still, I felt my hair get yanked from above, and I slipped on a book in an effort to regain my bearings. I sat on to the floor, feeling like some my hair had been ripped out, my palms and knees smarting from where I caught myself.

"Rima-tan?" Yaya called out, and I looked up, the blood draining from my face.

"Uhhhh…" I managed, not quite able to look at her.

"Mashiro-san, are you alright?" Kairi looked at me, concern and embarrassment marked on his face.

"Nnnnnnn…"

"Rima-tan, what are you doing here?" Yaya came closer, holding her hand out to me.

I didn't say anything as she pulled me up. My face had gotten its color back threefold, and I now resembled a tomato. I blankly looked down at my boots. If I had felt uncomfortably warm and awkward before, it was nothing compared to this. I couldn't look at them at all for embarrassment. Their gazes scalded my being.

"I… uh, I was here…"

"Oh, Rima-tan!" Yaya cut me off, "Are you ok?"

"Huh?" I lifted my head but shifted my eyes to the side so as to not look at her. I was confused. What did she mean, was I ok? Was I ok with seeing them make out? Was I ok as in, "If you were a sensible person you wouldn't be here, bitch"? Was I ok with them being together…

"You look like you've been crying," she told me in a low voice.

"What?" I dug in my pocket for a mirror, popping it open. With the lights on now, I could clearly see my face. Me eyes were red rimmed and a little puffy. "Oh, no," I groaned, touching them lightly.

"Are you ok? Do you need to go home?" Yaya asked, worried. Kairi shifted, clearly still embarrassed but also concerned. I looked at my shoes and bit my lip, feeling tears threatening to spill over.

"No," I whispered, a lump in my throat making it difficult to say more.

"No you're not ok or no you don't need to go home?"

I shook my head, bangs hiding my face. "Oh, Rima-tan," Yaya said sympathetically, hugging me. The tears spilled over, sliding down my face and into Yaya's shirt. My shoulders shook as I silently sobbed.

We ended up sitting around a table in the library, not talking much. When I finally calmed down, Kairi gave me a cup of water.

"Thanks," I mumbled, "where did you get the cup?"

"The desk," he pointed to the librarian's desk.

"Wow, they were just sitting on the table?" Yaya asked. I wrinkled my forehead. I didn't remember dropping cups when I tripped and knocked over stuff on the desk.

"Nope," Kairi produced a hairpin.

Yaya's eyes gleamed and a look passed between them. I wasn't sure whether to gag or think it was cute. "Uhhh…" I cleared my throat awkwardly. "So…"

"Oh, right," Yaya tore her eyes away from Kairi's adoring ones. "Well, ahem," she folded her hands primly in her lap. "Well, it's been a while now since… well, since Yaya liked Kairi. Yaya just didn't know if Kairi liked her. But before summer, Yaya confessed, and, well… it didn't go all that well."

Kairi flushed and looked at me. "I wasn't all that sure whether we would work.. whether I was good enough for Yaya or not. I wasn't sure whether we could handle a relationship… we are rather young…"

Yaya flung her arms around Kairi. "But Kairi is amazing and so mature and can handle anything!" They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes; I almost gagged. "But, anyway, Yaya and Kairi had a nasty fight about this around the same time as Yaya's movie project."

So that explained the fighting. I nodded, things finally coming together in my mind. "So, when did you two start talking again?"

"Well, Yaya was too angry to talk with Kairi until Nagi told Yaya that Kairi was really sorry and he wanted to make up with Yaya. So after a week of hesitation, we decided to meet up here." There was an awkward pause as both of them regarded me silently. Then Yaya spread her arms up into the air and chirped "And here we are!"

"Huh," was all I could manage as my brain tried to asses this situation. It was so weird! I felt really embarrassed as I thought of the interrupted makeout. I nodded, feeling a more than a little like I was out of place.

Yaya looked at her watch. "Eh, we have to go back now," she pouted, looking over at Kairi and nodding her head. She turned back to me. "Rima, Yaya wants you ask a favor of you. Please don't tell anyone about this. _Please_," she stressed this word as they got up from the table. Kairi got walked towards the door, but Yaya stayed back and came over to where I still sat, slightly numb.

"Rima-tan, Yaya will tell them you're not feeling well," she murmured to me. "But Yaya has the feeling that someone out there is looking for you. Yaya knows you're angry, but she couldn't bring herself to talk to you all summer. It's not his fault." She turned towards Kairi, but her hand touched my shoulder and I heard her mumble, "And Yaya thinks he's worried sick at the thought of losing you."

I sat in the library in a numb trance after that. I don't know how long I stayed there, I just kind of sat and stared at the table. Not really thinking or anything. Just sitting there. When I finally snapped out of my trance, it was because I realized that I felt both extremely sad and extremely hungry.

I got up from the table, disoriented, and stumbled into the hallway, making my way toward the My Little Pony fair or whatever. In the back of my mind, something pushed me forward: I really wanted to find Fujisaki. I didn't really know for what. Did I want to talk to him? No. Did I want to yell at him? I felt kind of frozen, empty and numb, not angry, but not happy. Outside, it was darkening and there was a light breeze that swished the loose hairs that had escaped my braid.

I wandered into the courtyard, feeling like I was walking through a dream. Where was Fujisaki?

The stage had been removed, and now a dance floor had been set up with music (probably taken from some My Little Pony soundtrack), and lots of people crowded the floor. Along the sides, tables with food had been set up, and people could take pictures with life size figurines of the My Little Pony characters. I sidled up behind an empty, hiding along with other wallflowers.

"Rima!" Amu was suddenly at my side, clutching my arm. "Where were you? We checked everywhere for you! Here, I have your bag, someone kept calling you, I didn't pick up but I think…" She trailed off as she noticed the wallflowers staring at her. Quickly, she straightened up and put on her "cool and spicy" façade. "I mean, answering other people's phones is, like, so rude," she rolled her eyes for emphasis. "Anyway," she continued while everyone went back to doing their own thing, "where were you?"

I took my bag and avoided her eye. "I was… uhm…"

"Nagi looked really pissed," she muttered to me. I looked at her, a frantic feeling building up in my chest. "Where is he?"

"Rima, where were you?" Her gold eyes looked hurt, reminding me of a puppy who had been slapped, and I couldn't bear hurt her further.

"We had a fight," I admitted. Amu's eyes widened and she took in a sharp breath.

"Like, your usual fights?"

"No."

"Oh, Rima."

"I know, I know! I don't know why, but I need to find him. Please, just tell me where he is!"

Amu didn't look at me as she pointed to the dance floor. Peeking from behind the booth, I had a clear view of him. Ayumi was dancing with Nagihiko. Ayami and Nagihiko. My world-and my heart- shattered. Some inexplicable feeling welled up inside me, and I felt horribly betrayed and disappointed. I turned to look back at Amu, speechless.

"They, uh, well, he asked her," she said, her eyes looking desperate. "It's not like it's anything… I mean, wait, Rima!" I began walking away, but turned back, looking at Amu. "Rima, it's not like he likes her or anything, he's always liked- oomph!"

Flung my arms around Amu so fast and hugged her so tightly I knocked the wind out of her. Her arms tentatively reached out and hugged me back, and her right hand patted my head.

I turned away after a few seconds and walked slowly out of the Seiyo high courtyard, not bothering to look back. And as I walked the streets towards home, I realized why I had wanted to find Fujisaki. I wanted him to hug me.

When I reached my home, I knew immediately all was not well. A strange car was parked in the driveway, and as I reached the door, I heard some loud, angry voices. With trembling fingers, I let myself in.

"She never told me anything!" Mama was yelling, her arms crossed. Papa glared back at her, anger clear in his eyes.

"Well, maybe you aren't as important to her!" He yelled back, waving his hands.

"How dare you!" Mama gasped, "You have no idea how important I am to her! Maybe she hasn't mentioned it because she doesn't want to go!"

"Maybe she didn't mention it because she knew you'd try to stop her!"

"I'm trying to protect you! You've never loved Rima the way I do! You never took care of her like I do!"

That did it. They snarled at each other like rabid animals. I stood in the doorway, frozen, my emotions exhausted and numb. I didn't know what to do. It wasn't too late to go back to school-

No. I didn't want to go back. Suddenly I couldn't bear staying here any longer. I knew it in my heart that I had to go. But Mama…

"Rima!" They finally saw me. Mama rushed to my side. "Rima, is this true? Did you really agree to stay with your father for a month in Hokkaido?"

I'd rarely ever seen Mama look this way. Her eyes were wild and frantic, her face was red with anger, and she looked like someone had stabbed her in the back. I bit my lip as I realized that someone had. I had.

"What happened to the no secrets, Rima? You promised!" Mama's eyes glistened with unshead tears, and a lump suddenly lodged in my throat. "Rima, you promised Mama. How could you break that promise?"

I didn't have an answer for her. What could I say? That our promise was false from the start? I just shook my head slightly. Mama straightened up and turned away from me.

"Well," she said, her voice cool but trembling, "I suggest you get going. I'll send all the paperwork to Seiyo tomorrow."

While Papa went upstairs to get a suitcase, I found my voice. "Mama…"

"You'd better hurry up, Rima, it's getting late." She spoke almost as if I wasn't there. "You have a train to catch. Better get going."

"Mama…"

"JUST GO!" she snapped, so forcefully that I staggered back. I turned and ran up the stairs, as fast as possible.

Half an hour later I came down the stairs, Papa carrying my suitcase. "Mama?" I called out, but I got no reply. Checking outside, I noticed that her car was gone. I felt a chill run through me.

"Come on, Rima," Papa chirped. "We have to catch the next train."

The train ride was long and cold. I had a window seat, and as I leaned against it dozing off, I remembered _that._

It must have been about six months after we graduated from elementary school, and Fujisaki had gone to England again. Papa had just moved out, and I was struggling a bit with the pressure of keeping Mama's spirit's up. The news of Papa and Yasuko's engagement came in the mail that day, and Mama had been so crushed. I couldn't sleep that night thinking about everything that was going on, and it was around four in the morning when I got my crazy idea.

I picked up my phone and called Fujisaki Nagihiko.

I know, I know. I am thoroughly ashamed. But before he left, we had been getting along and I had even felt… something. I don't know. He gave me his number before he left. I had never called him, but I kept it under my pillow. Yes, I know that's creepy. Sue me.

Anyway, it was four in the morning, and yes, I knew what time it was in London (_Ihadmemorizedthetimedifferen cewhatwasswrongwithme)_. So, with trembling fingers, I picked up my phone and called him.

He. Picked. Up. I seriously thought I would die waiting for hi to answer, but no, there was his smooth, pleasant voice on the other line.

"Hello?"

I stayed silent for a moment, just marveling at the sound of his voice before realizing what I was doing.

"Uh, I… Hello, Nagihiko."

And just like that, our conversation flowed.

He sounded really happy to hear me, and I was ecstatic to hear him. We talked about school and the Guardians and his dancing and stuff, and then he asked me a question.

"Where would you rather be right now: London, or Japan?"

It was an innocent, simple question, but for me, it meant so much more. It meant admitting to myself that I… well, I liked Fujisaki. That caught me off guard, though it shouldn't have, because the thing I wanted the most at the moment was to be with him. So I answered him as honestly as I could. "London sounds nice right now. You should send me a postcard."

"Maybe I will," I could almost hear him smiling.

Timidly, I asked "Are you coming back soon?"

He sighed in what sounded like frustration, and then said, "I hope so. It depends on… some things."

"Like what?"

"Things, Rima." I grinned.

"That's good. You should come back soon. I… miss you."

There was a pause, and I was tempted to hang up but was far too curious to see what he would say.

"I miss you too," I exhaled in relief, my cheeks pink. "I'll come back, soon, I promise." He sounded determined, now. "I'll come back, and everything will be like before."

"Really?" I asked.

"Maybe," he responded. "Maybe they'll be even better."

He came back four months later, and for a while, things were better. They were great days. I was so happy he was back, and I thought that maybe _something_ would happen. Surely something would happen soon. But then I found out.

"You were in Japan for three months before you told me?" I felt like my mind was going 200 kilometers an hour and in the wrong lane. "You- you lied to me?"

"Listen, Rima-"

"Why would you lie to me?"

"It's not like that! I didn't mean to lie, it just-"

"Just what? Just sort of happened? Ugh, I'm so stupid! I never should have trusted you in the first place! I knew-"

He caught my wrists and looked me in the eye. "Listen, I didn't want to lie to anyone, especially you, but there were some things-"

"Like what?"

"Things!" There was no friendly edge to this. It wasn't playful banter, it was serious. "Things that held me back… things out of my control…"

I was staring up at him, and as I looked into his eyes I knew instinctively what he was going to try. Right as he lowered his face to mine, I looked down. His lips ended up in my hair.

"This never happened." I whispered, backing away. "Nothing. Not the phone call, not our friendship, nothing. If you tell anyone, I will never forgive you." And I did what I always seem to do: I ran away.

Back in the present, I realized that I had never forgiven Fujisaki for what he did. I doubted I ever would. He had cut me deeply, and I still had the scar.

It was also probably one of the reasons my friendships slowly fell apart. I stopped hanging out with everyone if Fujisaki was around. It was only recently that I'd begun to forgive him.

I wondered: If Fujisaki had tried to kiss me today, would I have let him? I told myself that no, I never would, but as I fell asleep against the window, my mind unequivocally whispered yes.

* * *

><p>Hello, my dears!<p>

I'm sorry I've been gone for so long! I had some stuff to take care of, and a lot of end-of-the-summer cramming to do! Anyway, he's the bad news: school starts in two weeks!

Gah! I dont think I'll be able to upload much after this chapter, because school is extremely packed for me! I'll try my best to get a new chapter in before school starts, but it's all very iffy. I'm sorry!

This chapter marks the start of the Hokkaido arc. It'll be really weird and lots of fun :) I promise. Wait for it, my darlings!

~Alice


	13. Hokkaido

I woke up in a big, fluffy room. That's the only way I can describe it. Fluffy. The bed was fluffy, the carpet was fluffy, the chairs were fluffy… where was I? I barely remembered stumbling out of the train into a car and someone putting me in a bed.

The bed I was lying in had a canopy. Everything was white. Was I in some weird sort of hospice? Looking around the room, I felt like I was in some pseudo Victorian-ish house.

There were two doors to my right, and when I saw a wardrobe, I realized I was still in my Applejack costume. I got up and wandered to the wardrobe, opening the doors.

A million and one fluffy Lolita dresses stared back at me. They were cute, but still... where were my clothes? What was going on?

Backing slowly away from the wardrobe, I opened the door nearest to me. Outside, there was a little staircase that descended into a foyer. Cautiously, I went down the stairs.

Where was I? There was an elaborate parlor leading out from the foyer, and I nearly sagged in relief as I saw Papa. He was wearing a suit and holding a top hat. What? "Papa," I began, but as he saw me, he rose with someone who I could only assume was Yasuko, clad in a tea length yellow gown that made her look like her liver was failing her.

"No Japanisu, Rima," he told me. I stared back at him.

"We're only speaking English in this house, Rima," he told me in Japanese.

"Right, um, Papa…"

"Hai!*" said Papa in a weird voice. "Mai naime isu Gerarudo! Yu mei karu mi Papa!"

"Hai!" said Yasuko. "Mai naime isu Samansa! Naisu tu mitu yu! Zisu isu Hari!" She pushed forward a toddler.

"My name is Rima," I told them in plain japanese, "and I think you guys are crazy." I eyed the toddler warily. I didn't know Papa had another kid. My stomach clenched.

"Rima," Papa began again in Japanese, "you must understand. We've been invited to the English Ball this weekend, and, well, we wanted you to come with us, but everyone must speak English."

"The what Ball?"

"The English Ball, thrown by English families. It's a tradition here, Rima.**"

"Huh… so, do I have to go?"

"That's what we hoped," Yasuko smiled at me. I stared stiffly back. I was kind of creeped out by the fact that I was in a room with the same woman that took my father away from me.

Ok, I know that's not true, but still, it kind of burned that my father preferred to go live with this lady and "Hari" or whatever. Were we not good enough? As I followed them to the kitchen, I began to wonder if this was a mistake.

By the end of the day, I knew it was. First of all, Yasuko insisted I call her "Samansa." "Hari", whose real name was Hatchi, cried every time I was nearby. Not only did he cry, he threw everything, threw up on everything, tried to eat everything, and, when he didn't get his way, would roar and howl like an animal in pain.

The house was kind of nice. It was the size of a normal house, but fancier. There was my room, "Hari's" room, my dad and Yasuko's room, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, two bathrooms and a room with a washing machine. It was in a quiet neighborhood that looked kind of expensive. There was no backyard or front yard. There was no TV.

I was bored out of my mind. Papa had taken the day off to "spend it with me", but really he spent most of the time locked up in his room. I ended up exploring the house, looking for my suitcases. When I finally found them in the laundry room, under a table with a tablecloth over it, I lugged them up the stairs by myself, because no one would help me.

After dinner, Papa told me that the clothes in my closet were for me to "become a proper English lady". I oogled. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean I want you to behave like a proper English lady, Rima." He told me. "Maybe we should give you a new name! Like Erizabeto. Or Arisu. **(AN: Sorry, couldn't resist!)**"

"Papa," I warned, "what are you doing?"

He grinned at me. "Rima, if you want something in life, you have to work to get it."

I stared at him, but he just kept smiling and didn't speak. "You are excused," he told me, as I sat there numbly. Since when was my father so formal? This is the man that Mama would accuse of not being able to properly raise me because he was a "slob," the man who changed his socks about twice a week and didn't know how to operate a washing machine. Now… what was with the three piece suit? The pocket watch I had seen him take out earlier? The wannabe English? I pondered this as I stumbled up the stairs to my room.

I flopped on my bed and instinctively reached into my pocket, which was where I always kept my phone. I had a mini heart attack when it wasn't there, but then I figured that it was probably in the clothes I wore yesterday.

When I didn't find my phone in my Applejack costume, I remembered that it had been in my bag. I opened it eagerly, rummaging through its contents.

By the time I had taken every item out of my bag and suitcases and _still_ couldn't find my phone, I was on the verge of hysteria. I always had my phone on me. Always. To be missing it was like suddenly missing an arm or a leg; it didn't feel natural.

Maybe I had accidentally dropped it in the train station. I was so exhausted yesterday I was barely conscious while getting off the train. Maybe I dropped it then.

I figured the best person to ask about this was Papa so, hoping not to run into Yasuko by accident, I crept up to the almost closed door of my father's room and peeked inside.

Papa and Yasuko were whispering together, and instinctively, I pressed myself flat to the door to hear better.

"This job could make life so much better for us," Papa was saying, "we just need to prove that we're worthy enough to be sent to England." Yasuko muttered something I couldn't hear, and Papa continued, "We need to look and act like a proper English family. Rima can learn fast enough. She already looks the part. If my boss sees us, all happy and English, he'll be more likely to send us there."

A chill ran through me as I thought about what this meant. Papa just wanted to use me to look better at work? What happened to all the "quality time" he kept talking about? What was going on? Behind the door, Papa sighed. "Look, Rima is really important to me, just like Hari is to you. When I married you, I never judged you for bringing Hari with you. Please don't judge me for trying to connect with my daughter." Yasuko sighed and said "Alright." I heard a click and the light streaming behind the door shut off.

As quietly as I could, I tiptoed back across the hall and into my room. What did this mean? Was Papa going to move away? I shivered from a cold that was not external. Papa didn't really want me, did he? I echoed back his words. _"Look, Rima is really important to me. Please don't judge me for trying to connect with my daughter."_ I bit my lip thoughtfully. Ok, maybe he did want me. But then why didn't he just spend time with me? Why did he shut himself away from me? Why did he keep secrets from me? How hard was it to just come out and tell me what was going on? Adults were infuriating.

During the day I had discovered that the other door in my room led to a small bathroom. It was all white, of course, and very pretty. The tub was very comfortable. As I sank into the steaming bath, I thought about home. I wondered how Mama was doing, at home by herself. I wondered how Yaya and Kairi were going to keep their secret, and how Amu was going to deal with Tsukiyomi and Tadase if I wasn't there. I wondered about Fujisaki, and what if he was really going to go back to England, but promptly dismissed the thought, as I didn't care about him. I decided that first thing in the morning, I would go demand my phone. I picked my pajamas up off the floor and slipped them on, snuggling down into my bed.

When I woke up, however, Papa wasn't there. Yasuko was, though, and she was the one who woke me up. "Come on, get up. Hurry," she told me. Blearily, I looked at the clock next to my bed. It made no sense to me, as I can't read an analog clock.

"What's going on?" I yawned.

"You're going to be late," she told me, as downstairs, "Hari" let out an earsplitting roar.

"Geez!" I was wide awake now. "Late for what?" I asked.

Yasuko looked at me in disbelief. "School," she stated, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?!" I cried, sitting up so abruptly I felt dizzy.

"Yes," she said, gesturing to a chair, "there's your uniform."

"No one told me about this!" I protested.

"You Papa wants it," she told me, turning towards the door.

"I don't even have any books!" I threw my hands up. "What am I supposed to do without books?"

"They're downstairs in the kitchen," she answered crisply, before slipping out the door. I stood there, openmouthed, unable to believe and digest what she said. It made sense, I supposed, and I imagined Fujisaki for a second staring at me with his usual mocking look, saying "Did you really think they were going to let you sit there for a month?" and I would answer that, yes, I actually had, and to go stick his cross dressing nose in someone else's business. Shaking my head, I pulled on my uniform and attempted to brush my hair before heading down the stairs. Yasuko was there, with a bag that I assumed was school issued, because it had a name on it "Elizabeth Royal Academy" Along with what I assumed was the school crest, because if was also on the vest of my uniform: a crown in the center of a sun. She handed it to me before heading outside with a motion for me to follow her.

We drove into the center of a little village, up to a tall, ominous dark structure with thick black gates. It looked like something out of a horror movie. I stared up as we walked down the short path to the double doors in the front.

A woman wearing a maid outfit opened the door and ushered us inside. While she spoke to Yasuko, I took in my surroundings. There was a grand foyer similar to the one at Papa's house, the walls decorated with some plaques and a bunch of paintings of old people. There were potted plants and tables with vases, the nearest one contained a branch with cherry blossoms. Above it was a little plaque, and I stood on my tiptoes to read it.

_Many thanks to the following families:_

_Blake _

_Hinawa_

_Fredrickson_

_Fujisaki_

_Smith-Ota_

_Tsukiyomi_

_Vanucci_

_Von Dre-_

I felt my eyes go wide as I sucked in my breath. My eyes skimmed back up the list, and I reread the name. "Fujisaki," I mouthed, without really realizing it.

"Rima," Yasuko called out, and I realized that she was on the other side of the foyer. Turning quickly, I ran away from the table. As I entered the office, I asked myself for what seemed like the millionth time _"Why do I always run away from everything?"_

* * *

><p>*Wannabe English<p>

*Idk if this is real, I made it up. It's real in my story! I don't know all the festivals don't judge me too harshly for my ignorance.

Sorry for the late upload, I have so much to do! I know it's short, but I just couldnt leave you dangling!


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